I can hold a warm, firm boundary with anyone now, kind but unmoved. What's harder is looking back at what it cost, all the pieces of myself I quietly handed over across the years to keep the chair steady and everyone else comfortable. I got so good at holding the line for others that I'm only now asking where the line was for me.
More people experience this than they realize.
You can hold caring boundaries with anyone but you're reckoning with how much of yourself it took.
If this sounds familiar, the Library can help you find the bigger picture.