Healthy boundaries

I have always had problems setting boundaries for myself. Which is something most of us struggle with, in my experience, one way or another. I am a highly sensitive person and I have never really had a sense of boundary between my energy and others. Like I was just an extended part of everybody else. I think many people struggle with this, and maybe HSP's (Highly sensitive persons) in particular. So how does one start to sort out where you start and where you finish?

Boundaries in my opinion does not only mean what you allow other people to do towards you. It is just as important to know what you like and what you don't like. What is my likes and dislikes down to the smallest detail, I like this flavour instead of that flavour. I have always had problems with saying, no I would rather have this one, or no I would rather go there. I believe that the journey towards finding yourself really comes down to this issue. What do I like and what do I dislike. For example I like to hike alone. So, I don't like company while hiking.

Specially I think it's important for HSP`s to know because we have a gift of being overly concerned with other people's reaction to us, and we easily observe small details in others reactions that makes the smallest reaction very apparent to us. But that being said, I think this is something everybody struggles with to some extend.

So what can you do today to start this journey? I think the most important thing is to take baby steps and to have patience for yourself. If you have lived your whole life with little or no boundaries, it will take time to get there, and that's ok! Maybe the first step is to ask yourself, do I like tea or coffee the most. If you don't like tea, don't drink tea!  At first you don't have to tell anyone if that's too hard right now, all in it's time. The most important thing is to honor your energy and respect your own decisions! Start small and build your way up when you feel comfortable doing so.