Limits

How have you been “taking care?”

I want to reflect a bit more on the importance of self-care right now. Again – inspired by The Sanctuary Course several of us in our church family have been engaging.

In addition to the caring activities we can engage in – self-care also involves developing healthy boundaries. Boundaries have a lot to do with your sense of personal responsibility – and they can help you discern when to focus on caring for yourself and when to focus on caring for others.

One aspect of healthy boundaries is learning to honour and live within our limits.

Limits can be physical. I know I feel those right now. The need for rest and for sleep. Being attentive to how our bodies are carrying the stress we feel right now. The need to limit screen time. Who else is experiencing “Zoom” headache and fatigue?

Limits can be emotional. We each have different levels of sensitivity to the suffering of our world right now. We each have different capacities for emotional resiliency. We each need to learn to honour those limits. Maybe it just isn’t a good idea to click on that news story after you scan the headline. Maybe you need to be gentle with yourself and give yourself more time to process all the emotions you are experiencing lately.

Limits can relational. Introvert or extrovert – we are all experiencing relational limits right now. How do we honour the limits of time alone to rest and recharge, with the limits of time you feel you need to maintain connection with family and friends? Not to mention the physical distancing limits imposed on us that we all are trying to navigate.

Limits can be spiritual. Are you able to spend the time you need right now to grow in your relationship with God? Are you able to spend the time you need in prayer, in reflection, in Scripture – whatever disciplines you need – to sustain faith and hope right now?

We all have limits.

In many ways – this pandemic is exposing those limits and our human frailty.

Be gentle.

Be kind.

Embrace and learn to live within the limits you have.

Below is a video that may help you dig a bit more into why embracing our limits is such a vital part of being healthy.

Be blessed,

Pastor Tim