No trespassing, please!

Looking after yourself and why you sometimes fail

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas when helpful relatives, intrusive friends, nosy neighbors, entitled kids, and well-meaning church folks run over your boundaries! Hence, you love and hate the holidays. Life Intelligence to the rescue to everyone who reads it! Don't get left out in the cold – subscribe and join the party!

Next week I’ll be making a case AGAINST therapy… or sort of. Stay tuned.

Hanging a "no trespassing" sign around your neck may not be an option, but if you don't figure out how to defend your boundaries, someone will walk all over them, make you feel uncomfortable, and take advantage of you somehow. Today is all about that – from defining boundaries to discussing why people violate them, why we allow them to do so, and what to do to protect yourself.

I wish I could say it's never happened to me, but I'd be lying. Why, just the other day... It's happened to you, too? You don't say!

Sometimes, a character arrives in your life and demands attention, resources, or whatever they want. Sometimes, they are pretty sneaky about it, telling you what you want to hear, offering help, and complimenting you, but then the other side comes out. They guilt trip you, bargain with you, show up uninvited, offer their unsolicited advice, gaslight you, and trick you into things you never thought you'd agree to. Other times, they play off your generous nature and mooch away. Nothing is off limits for boundary violators, not even your underpants. So, let's take a closer look at this all too human and familiar dynamic.