Last week, we at SoM took part in listening to the ever fabulous, Chip Judd. His message was that of Boundaries. Everyone has them, not everyone knows how to use or enforce them. He gave an illustration of a hula hoop to signify our boundaries. Everyone has their own hula hoop, no one is allowed inside the hula hoop except God and yourself. It is a private club.
He explained that it is our job to protect our hula hoops and to make sure that our boundaries are protected. An example of violated boundaries would go along these lines: "You make me mad." In reality, no one can make you mad. You are responsible for managing your own emotions and by saying something like this to another person you are violating their boundaries and passing your responsiblities to them. Although it is very difficult to keep our emotions in check and they are a good part of life, we can't make ourselves the victim and pass our weight onto them.
I agree with this 100%. Except there is a sad reality to this. We don't always try to break other people's boundaries, but it is often done out of an atempt to love and provide guidance. Someone actually tried to do this to me already. There was a misunderstanding and I noticed that while they were breaking mine, I was trying to defend my stance and started to break theirs.
I wanted so badly for them to see, but I can't do that. Only God can. (I hate cliches but this is true.) Every time I try to give sight and make them understand I make it worse. I asked God about this and He reminded me that is He who gives sight to the blind and understanding to the confused, that's His job. I should never try to take that away because I mess it up. My job in life is to love and be loved by Him. That's it. When I realize this and actually receive it, I calm down, back off, and life becomes much simpler. I am not the Miracle Maker, He is.
Love it.
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