Expanding Boundaries

Readers, please enjoy this guest blog post by Michelle DesPres, author of The Clairvoyant Path.

I’ve noticed an interesting trend that is prompting us to go outside our hard-set boundaries today. Except, aren’t boundaries supposed to be maintained? Don’t they keep us safe and protected, and define who we are? Why would we ever step outside the boundaries we have worked so hard to gain? Ultimately, we are being asked to consider stepping beyond our boundaries in order to recognize where we are still operating from our past or outdated ways of being, and how that is keeping us from expanding into our greatness. But don’t misinterpret; I’m not saying go run amok without care. Instead, think of going outside your boundaries in a healthy and conscious way.

The healthiest way to step outside our boundaries is to recognize what we most resist and confront it, free of agenda, and see what it can teach us. This also means recognizing that the relationships in our lives, good or bad, are our greatest assets. I recently made friends with the homeless man who hangs out at the coffeehouse I frequent. For a long time I had a resistance to him. But I would quickly learn that by denying this man his expression I was also denying myself critical information necessary for maintaining my own well-being. One day the homeless man made a comment that made me sit down and listen to what he had to say. Suddenly, I realized he was highly intelligent, delightfully funny, and extremely intuitive. He picked out of my head a dilemma I was having, but not communicating, and he validated my feelings about the issue in ways that dumbfounded me and made me rethink my boundaries in regards to the situation. I certainly never expected the answer to my dilemma to come from a homeless man, but there it was. He offered me compassion, insight, and joy from a perspective I’d never considered.

What I learned was that other people are the pieces to our puzzle. Spark up a dialogue with the people you resist the most. Honor them by simply listening and allowing them their truth, not feeling like you have to sway them to your beliefs, while still maintaining your own truth, and discern what they have to offer you as information, knowledge, and wisdom that you had never considered, and then redefine your boundaries based on what you learned about the truth of yourself.

These are not the days to deny yourself experiences because you think you don’t connect with a certain person or think you shouldn’t associate with various types of people. Take the bold step and be open to experiencing your resistances. Find the pearl of wisdom every person has and integrate it as a piece of you and see how that doesn’t expand what you can have today.

Our thanks to Michelle for her guest post! For more from Michelle DesPres, read her article “Occupy Your Spirit.”