The Importance of Boundaries

 Boundaries are considered to be vital and critical to many who are involved in 12 Step/ Self- Help Programs. The idea of establishing and maintaining boundaries is to let others know that you respect and value yourself and that others need to respect and value you as well.

This statement , I believe, well-depicts the power and the vitality of Boundaries, " The Purpose of having boundaries is to protect and take care of ourselves, We need to tell other people when they are acting in ways that are not acceptable to us.They are a first step in starting to know that we have a right to protect and defend ourselves. That we have not only the right but the duty to take responsibility for how we allow others to treat us."

  This is taken from a web-site on boundaries. The key , as I see it, is the word allow. What we allow others to do to us matters as does how we permit ourselves to be treated.One of the cures for  getting beyond the affects of being abused is to decide to not allow ourselves to place ourselves again in a position where we can again be abused! We also become, eventually, someone who will urge others to establish and maintain their own boundaries.