“Good fences make good neighbours” thought an old man to himself. This is what he had learnt as a child from his parents and neighbours. His life experiences strengthened this belief further. But today he observed something different. He saw how his granddaughter was filled with joy on seeing a few goats entering their garden. She had no idea that they were trespassing. Infact, she welcomed them with claps, smiles and ran towards them.

The little girl’s boundless joy and excitement made him question himself and this belief. But then he thought “How will a boundary less world look like?” That too seemed to be one fraught with its own perils.

He parked the conflicting thoughts for the moment and enjoyed the time with his granddaughter and the uninvited guests. Once the sun had set and the goats moved back to their home, the thoughts came back to him. He decided to sit back, relax and reflect a little. Slowly he started to realize a few things:

• There is a difference between physical boundaries and mental boundaries.
• Boundaries can be mapped on a scale of flexibility/ rigidity.
• He had many more boundaries in his life which existed but he had consciously forgotten about them.
• It was time for him to review different kind of boundaries and reflect on what was currently serving him and which ones not

This brings me to a few questions:

• What are the different boundaries in life you are operating with?
• How are they serving or not serving you?
• Would you like to make them more rigid or flexible?

I was holding myself back from sharing my dreams with so many people around. The fear of judgement was making me live an unfulfilled life. It’s only when I started to evaluate which boundary is ok the way it is and which one needs to become more flexible, did I start to express and get support. By clearly articulating what I wanted, people around me started to extend help and enabled me to progress in my life and career. Would love to hear back from you about your reflections regarding the boundaries in your life.