How do you or your partner know if boundaries have been crossed?

A lot is said about the importance of boundaries.  We live our lives within the boundaries of the law, we understand the societal expectations of how we should behave in public spaces, we raise our children with boundaries around bed time and how far they’re allowed to venture on their own. In school we have rules and regulations and likewise in the workplace.  So why do so many of us forget about the importance of boundaries within our relationships?

Without putting boundaries in place, we set ourselves and our partner up to fail.

Imagine trying to play a game without knowing the rules?  How could you possibly know if you were doing the right thing?  How would you know who won?

In entering a relationship and not having a mutual understanding of each other’s boundaries, you are setting the relationship up for failure.  That failure may not manifest in a break-up or divorce, but it will manifest some other way.  Resentment builds, the couple drifts apart, resentment builds even further, you find fault with each other and start to despise each other, wondering what on earth you even saw in each other in the first place.  One or both partners may start to look elsewhere for fulfilment, not just sexual fulfilment but emotional attachments, someone that understands them.

Yes, that classic line ‘my wife doesn’t understand me’ isn’t a cheesy pick-up line used by men just looking for a bit on the side, it’s a plea for attachment and fulfilment that is missing from the relationship and is equally applicable to women as it is men and to heterosexual and same-sex couples.

So, what are your boundaries?  If your partner isn’t aware of your boundaries it is unfair to expect them to know when they have crossed them.  It’s equally unfair to expect your partner to understand why you are so angry with them when they cross your boundaries, if you haven’t told them what your boundaries are.

Just as we live surrounded by the boundaries of law, rules and regulations with very clear consequences of what happens when those boundaries are crossed, so we need to create those boundaries within our relationships.  Think about those little things that really wind you up and start to put boundaries in place to rectify them.  It could be something as simple as asking your partner to put their dirty laundry in the laundry basket rather than leaving it in a pile on the floor or it could be that you have an open relationship but the boundaries have been crossed.

Whatever your boundaries, share them with your partner.  When you both know and abide by the same rules of engagement can you have a truly equal relationship.

Book a call with me if you’re struggling with having a conversation around boundaries or if you need help to work through boundaries that have been crossed.

Book a call before you end up in the divorce courts.  Let’s work out what’s not working in your relationship and why and create an action plan to get it back on track.