Response:

Honoring others choices will often mean that they are in conflict with your own choices and beliefs. If their views agree with yours, then there is nothing that challenges you to broaden your perspective. To honor another’s choices that you disagree with means that even though they have come to a different position from yours, you can understand and respect the different experiences and backgrounds that have led to their choices.  This is the cornerstone of all successful conflict resolution.

Standing up for your rights and boundaries will vary from one person to the other depending upon how they interpret what are their rights and the boundaries of themselves. For adults in the process of healing a past of childhood abuse, they will feel many typical human interactions violate their rights and boundaries that others without that background wouldn’t necessarily feel. But as we heal our past, the sense of rights and boundaries tends to shift away from a defensive stance toward more of a simple knowingness of what is important to your growth and joy and life and maintaining a focus on that and not worrying about conflicting opinions. Everyone is entitled to their own views, their own path of growth, their own life choices, just as you are. When you can honor that, in spite of it being different than your own path, then it makes life more peaceful and enjoyable, and the boundary issues take care of themselves.

Love,

Deepak