Member-only story
Boundaries in Relationships
Relationship boundaries work either way: they create emotional well-being caused by vibrant, healthy people. They are things you can begin to work on with people you care about right now, and you’ll find a change in your confidence, self-esteem, emotional maturity, and so on.
Intimate Relationships and Poor Boundaries
At the family level, I presume boundary issues are by far the most challenging to deal with. You can always dump your boyfriend/girlfriend, and a divorce is only a phone conversation or twelve away, but you’ll never dump your parents.
If you have international disputes in your family, it is very likely that you also have had them in your intimate relationships. And the great place to start is with your relationships.
You’ve probably been in such a relationship that started to feel like a rollercoaster ride: when life was good, they were beautiful; when things got tough, they were a tragedy. And there’s an almost dependable oscillation between both the two — two weeks of happiness, a week of hell, a period of bliss, a horrible breakup, then a dramatic reunion. It signifies a dysfunctional relationship and represents two people incapable of establishing solid personal limits.
How to Establish Healthy Boundaries
