Examining barriers you may have is not an easy thing to do, breaking them down even more so. Whether you realize it or not, you may have built them up over time. It’s a perfectly natural thing to do, especially if you are a sensitive person.
Raised by an extraordinarily emphatic mother – and absorbing some of this empathy, I learned early on to protect myself from the harsh realities of this world. Being exposed to the suffering of other people at an early age, I decided to develop barriers that would help me cope and not be overly affected by external circumstances. Yet even as an adult, there would be times that I would crack at the mere sight of a homeless person bludgeoned by life.
As I reach a new stage in my life, however, I have come to realize that the very barriers that have kept me in a cocoon may also have kept important things – good things – from entering my life. Things that I have been looking for.
Friendship. Love. New experiences. Learning. The beauty of uncertainty.
Perhaps it’s the forced isolation that has resulted from this pandemic. Or perhaps I’m simply getting older. I can’t tell you what brought this self-examination on, but I know that it has to be done.
We build walls to keep ourselves safe – and sane. They serve their purpose. But it is also vital that we don’t allow these walls to keep out what we want.
Ask yourself, what is it that you are yearning for and haven’t found? At work, at home, in life…
Today, if there is one thing you can do for yourself, let it be this.
Could it be that you have a closed-off perspective because of your safety barriers? Maybe it’s time to set aside time to look at yourself and to identify any barriers that you have built up. Maybe they don’t serve you anymore. Maybe they’re keeping out that which you have been wanting for so long. Maybe it’s time to take one – or two – down. What have you got to lose?
