Cell Boundaries
by Nicole Howell
He said, “It’s over. I cheated on you, and I can't do this to you or us." For a split second, I wanted to tell him he was just angry and made it all up. But the way he said it, I knew he was serious. I hated him because he crossed boundaries established to protect me from emotional pain--just as cell membranes protect cells from harmful things, such as bacteria.
Three years later to the day, I have set up many boundaries to protect myself from being hurt emotionally. Just like a cell membrane protects my cell from bad things that could possibly harm it, the first boundary I established was to stop getting so emotionally attached. I noticed that whenever I get to close in my relationships I tend to put a lot of myself out in the open, and that just leads to hurt. So in order to correct this problem, I have stopped getting close to those I am involved with. That way I don't get too easily upset if they leave me. I avoid sharing a lot about myself so I don't seem so vulnerable to whomever I'm with; they can't take advantage of the situation.
Another thing I do to protect myself is to let people earn my trust. I've found that if I put out my emotions and heart before people have earned my trust, I get hurt. Trust shouldn't happen overnight; it should be earned.
Finally, I have learned not to rush into things because it can scare people away. Relationships and love take time to develop, and if you try to rush them you are bound to get hurt in the end. Taking one day at a time instead of one second can save a lot of heartache and pain. Life is too short to rush things; you have to be patient with love.
In the end, this is all like a cell membrane because my boundaries protect me from potentially harmful things that could happen in a relationship. Just like a cell membrane protects the cell from potentially harmful bacteria or organisms. All my solutions fix the bad things that happen if I let my guard down and break my boundaries. Same goes for a cell if the boundaries are broken. It has to come up with a solution to fix the problem such as getting medicine or sending in antibodies to fight the intruder off.