Boundaries: it’s ok to stick to them

I didn’t realize how much time had passed, but here I am again. :)

Damn this is hard to do, but say YES to boundaries, you shouldn’t feel guilty about putting yourself first ❤️

Things have been challenging, but I continue to push through. I had an appointment with my therapist yesterday, just the one I speak to, not my prescriber. She’s so awesome, she listens and validates and praises, it’s really appreciated, and I told her so. I have also initiated a change in my prescribing doctor due to the poor interaction I had with my last one after my crisis situation.

I decided to hop on today and celebrate myself sticking to a boundary I had set and holding strong to it. When you were raised to be a people pleaser and be a ‘yes’ person, not being allowed to question authority, it’s extremely challenging to set boundaries with people, much less sticking to them.

The lady I’m working for right now is nice, she considers me a friend, I would say the same, but more of a colleague friend. She stretches herself too thin and works 7 days a week. But by her overbooking herself, she regularly asks me to meet on weekends or after 5pm. I have explained before that my time outside of work is for me, for my mental health. I recently had to explain to her and another business partner (for another project endeavor), that I was indeed really struggling. Despite this, she asked for another 5pm meeting. She included 2 other people in the email and no one responded.

This is challenging to accomplish, but it’s worth it! YOU are worth it! 😎👊💯

Given no one responded, I felt that they either didn’t see the email or were ignoring it given it was a 5pm meeting request. I responded this morning explaining once again, please respect my time, and that anything she asks of me between 7am-5pm M-F, I’m there, no questions asked. I reminded her I had not asked for any accommodations, just respect my time. She’s currently at a ‘board meeting’ in Hawaii. I don’t feel bad about making this request and sticking to my boundaries.

I realized something a while back, sometimes people don’t intentionally take advantage of you, sometimes it happens because of your lack of setting boundaries. That is the case here—I made myself super available at the start of this project because I never want to be the weak link. But my availability and flexibility became the norm, and that was my fault. So now I felt uncomfortable having to draw that line again, but once I did, I still feel anxious, but I also feel excited that I stuck up for myself. 🎉

I’m not sure if anyone has found my blog, and that’s ok if they haven’t. But if someone does happen to be reading this blather, please remember, you are not alone in this battle. In the military you have battle buddies—I consider every person out there who is struggling with the fight against their mind my battle buddy. 😎❤️🧠💪🪖

It is SOOO hard to keep going, but we do, in hopes of a better tomorrow. I won’t float false hope, because honestly I’ve been struggling with hope, but we’re in this together, and I’ll keep going if you do. 👊😎 So stay amazing, tap into those coping skills, take time when you need it, and remember you’re not alone. ❤️ And it is OK and encouraged, to set and stick to your boundaries! :)