Despite the differences each of us exhibit in life, all human life starts out the same way. Two tiny organisms meet up and begin to create a new human being. We start out very small in a container with constraints the we stretch, push, and challenge. We are fed from our mother through a tube connecting us physically to the lining of the sac in which we are contained. After a period of time we eventually break free from these constraints and show up in a world with plenty of space and so many sights, sounds and smells to process. We are not free though. We still have limits in our lives. We cannot move on our own, nor can we eat, or clean up after ourselves. Our level of communication is still very primitive too. Eventually as we grow we begin to gain more control and mastery over many of the things we initially struggled with, but as we do we face different limits. One of the earliest words we learn in life is “No!”. This is a limiting word. It tells us we can’t do something. Usually this has to do with hitting the neighbor kid who just took our favorite toy, or sticking a fork in the outlet. Maybe it is heard when we reach up to grab a boiling pot of water off the stove, or we run away naked from daddy and into the living room full of guests for the party. Sometimes these limits placed upon us are for our own good, to prevent pain, or embarrassment. Preservation of our life is a good reason to have limits placed upon us.
Generally our response to limits comes in the form of anger, frustration, and disappointment. The adorable baby above is in a moment where he is not experiencing limits to what he wants to do. One can only guess his reaction five minutes before or after this shot was taken. But the point here is that when we want to do something and we are kept from it by limits placed upon us it does not leave us with a good memory of that instance.
What limits do you have in your life right now that are frustrating you and disappointing you?