We all tend to cringe at the thought of limitations. We are afraid there won’t be “enough” if we impose or accept limitations. We are afraid we will have “settled” — a moral failing, apparently. We are afraid we will be deprived; we will suffer; we are afraid – period. Listen. I’m an expansive personality who has shied away from limitations for much of my life, and I only wish I had made friends with them sooner. Let me introduce you to my friend, Limitations. I am sure you will have a lot to talk about.
- Your schedule
You cannot be in two or three places at the same time. Limit your activities and your children’s activities. See if you don’t feel calmer. See if your health and relationships don’t improve. See if you don’t have a little more time to just think and be and reflect. Impose some limitations and stop being swamped. You can do this, and limitations can help you. Choose the number of activities you can comfortably keep up with and ditch the rest. Don’t choose more than three.
- Your clothes
If they cannot comfortably fit in your closet, get rid of some of the excess. Believe me, you will look just as adorable in the clothes that are left. Try the project 333 experiment if you want to. Choose 33 items and wear them for 3 months. That’s all you have to deal with. Your laundry will become easier to deal with. Does that sound wonderful? Go for it.
- Your obligations
Are you supposed to be in three different places for the holidays? Refer back to item 1. Christmas may be a magical time of year, but only Santa Claus can travel the globe in one night. You are a human. You have limitations. Someone probably won’t be happy that you can’t be in three different places at once, which brings me to
- Your worries
Did you know that you can impose limitations on these pesky things too? You can decide to only worry about one thing per day, or only worry for 30 minutes a day about everything. You can put all of your worries into a worry jar. When the lid is closed, you can’t worry. In order to worry, you have to sit down, stop everything else you are doing and open the jar and go through each item and worry intentionally. Do this on a regularly scheduled basis, for example, every Sunday afternoon for 30 minutes. Throw out the worries that have solved themselves, add the new ones and keep the longstanding ones for next week. Pray over your worry jar and ask God to help you. See if putting limits on your worries doesn’t train your mind to slow down and be a bit calmer.
- Your physical energy
Limitations will help you take care of yourself. You need your sleep. Go to bed at a decent hour. You need to have time to eat. Stop eating in your car. (See item 1.) You need to have time to stretch and breathe, etc. etc. By the way, you should know Limitations doesn’t like those extreme exercise programs, which are designed to put you in the hospital.
The “No Limits” guy may look appealing on the outside, but he will make sure you gain 100 lbs., get yourself into debt, and basically drive yourself right into a nervous breakdown. Limitations is a true friend. Get to know him and invite him into every part of your life. Don’t be fooled by the idea that if you “really cared” you would push yourself into an early grave. That doesn’t help anyone. I’ll leave you two to get acquainted. You’ll thank me later.