Exploring boundaries means you cross them sometimes. But regrets pass.
I threw away some medals from some marathons I ran a few years ago during a stint of simplifying my life and getting rid of stuff. As far as I know, you can’t get replacements.
When getting rid of them I thought, “The joy and value of a marathon is in the running, the training, and the experience. A medal is just to show off to other people. I didn’t run it for vanity.”
After getting rid of them, I regretted it. I crossed a boundary, but I only realized after I did it.
But since then, I came back to my original view. The marathon was about running. Though I regretted getting rid of the medals for a while, in the long run it helped me value fitness for the sake of fitness.
I find my life improves for exploring my boundaries (and those of people who appreciate it) more than not exploring them. It’s worth sometimes crossing them. You learn more than you regret, or at least I did.
You learn humility especially. It’s not like I won those marathons. I came in ten-thousandth place. Some people say just finishing means you won. You could equally say I lost to ten thousand people. I think my life is better just enjoying the running and growing from the experience. If I don’t enjoy the running or grow I should think about another way to spend my time.
Now my boundaries are expanded.
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