Love without edges sounds noble.
Always available.
Always saying yes.
Never letting anyone down.
But when everything gets a yes, your body usually pays the price.
Exhaustion. Quiet resentment.
Smiling on the outside, clenching on the inside.
Healthy boundaries are not walls.
They are the shape your love takes so it can stay honest.
Writers like Brené Brown say that clear is kind.
Telling the truth about what you can and cannot give is not selfish.
It is respect for yourself and for the other person.
Teachers like Don Miguel Ruiz remind us that we pick up a lot of rules that are not really ours.
“Good people never say no.”
“If someone is upset, it must be your fault.”
Boundaries are how you gently question those rules.
Instead of “I must fix everything,”
you start to ask,
“What is actually mine to carry, and what is not?”
Love with boundaries sounds like:
“I care about you, and I cannot do that tonight.”
“I want to keep this relationship healthy, so I need to be honest about my limit.”
That clarity protects your energy.
It also makes your yes more real when you do give it.