Lines. Boundaries. In. Out. Yes. No. Right from your childhood, you are told to live within certain boundaries. You begin with staying for instance within the boundaries of your elders arms, they protect you, hold you and comfort you. Then with time you get familiar with other boundaries. Boundaries of the house you live in, boundaries of the playground, your classroom, school, city and so on and then one fine day you begin experiencing life outside these boundaries, understand the different boundaries for different people and then define your boundaries as you see fit. From physical boundaries you eventually grow into developing a value system of your own and set boundaries for yourself, lines you don’t wish to cross. Being respectful to others, abiding by the code of friendship, helping those in need and so on. You create your own value system derived from what has been told to you, what you experienced in life and what you believe in. And then? Life happens making you cross every line you created for yourself. And you are left wondering and questioning what made you cross those lines!

Crossing these lines, some feel guilt while some feel like they broke free. It all starts with irregularities. Little tiny instances that would generally go unnoticed but not for you cause they seem to be outside the boundaries you created. And there is no right or wrong in that per say, a boundary is only meant to contain you, to guide you, to help you make the decision in your brief encounter with dilemma. And although the duration of this dilemma might be short , the resulting consequence my friend can last forever, could haunt you forever or maybe just maybe, set you free. Irregularities seem to make you cautious and take control of the situation, almost like you pick up the scent of danger and stay on alert. They make you feel like either something is wrong or about to go wrong and you instantly go into auto pilot mode to protect anything and everything you sense the danger towards.

A stitch in time saves nine they say. In reality, we either stitch where it’s not required or we end up needing way more stitches than nine! Once the moment passes, once the boundaries have been crossed, reality dawns on you. What did you do? Did you think of the people who would be affected by your action? And is it about how they are affected or about how you feel about what you did to them? It’s always about what you feel about your actions and the consequences. If it never mattered to you how the rest would feel it doesn’t matter what they feel. However if it did matter to you, your lapse of judgement would not be justified to you either. With so much thinking though where are you headed?

As you grow old you will realize, boundaries aren’t restrictions placed on you, they are sacred values that you built your life on and it is a code you live by for yourself, not for anyone else. They don’t hold you back, they shape you and the person that you are in the process of becoming. Nothing more and nothing less. There are moments that make or break us. It is said it is all in how you want to look at it, your perspective, pessimism/optimism, bright side/dark side, what you could gain vs what you could lose. Time and again you have to make choices. To wake up or sleep, to work or quit, to continue or leave, to move forward or take a step back, to stay in or step out. So take your time in deciding whether you want to cross the line or not, it is your life, your choice, it could potentially make or break you as a person, it could end your world or open up a new door altogether, it’s your call…

In or out??

Photo by Jude Beck on Unsplash

Copyright © 2019 mollyontheloose.wordpress.com. All Rights Reserved.