Healthy boundaries means we protect ourselves and sometimes other people, by realizing there are limits to certain behaviours, which should never be ignored.

Hopefully, our parents teach us healthy boundaries, right from the start: Things we do that might endanger ourselves or another's well-being (emotional or physical) are discouraged.

When this doesn't happen early in life (as it sometimes didn't with my mother), it can lead to difficulties recognizing or defending our boundaries for ourselves, later on. I personally struggle with making sure people respect my healthy boundaries, but am getting better at asserting myself when I need to do so. As a result, I feel much stronger, smarter, and more confident than I did in my teens, twenties and onward.