Balanced Elevations

08/21/2026

How do you handle your worst feelings?

08/21/2026

08/21/2026

There are sooo many reasons why compassionate people get stuck in hurtful, toxic, or miserable relationship dynamics.

When we love someone (family, partner, friend) who struggles to be kind or loving back, it’s easy to feel confused.

First, there’s our safety to keep in mind (because sometimes speaking up or leaving is simply not safe). 💔

Secondly, it’s CONFUSING when there are good times mixed up with the bad. 😵‍💫

And last but not least, it’s even MORE confusing when we’re EMPATHIC — because then we see their essence and know they’re loving at heart (well, at least somewhere waaaay down in there, under all the trauma, fear, and pain).

Shouldn’t we give them a chance?

(Which soon turns into second chance, which then turns into a forty-second chance). 🙄

And because we tend to be hard-working and responsible, it makes sense that we try and we try and we try…

But without clear boundaries to guide us, we end up getting stuck in coping responses that SEEM helpful, but actually serve to keep the problem going...such as:

🤐 Walking on eggshells (and keeping our voice silenced) in order to help them manage their mood

😮‍💨 Avoiding conflict—because isn’t it our job to keep the peace?

😖 Stuffing our own thoughts and feelings, since all our feelings do is make them get more upset

😩 Beg, cry, lecture, or pray things will get better “over time” (after all, surely they’ll change at some point, right?)

Can you relate with any of this?

If so, I want to send big (((((((hugs)))))))) to you. ❤️‍🩹

This isn’t easy, but if you’d love some help with this, here are some boundaries tips that I’ve found that can make all the difference:

1️⃣ Know this: their bad behavior is NOT your fault.

Even if they try to blame you or make you think their actions are your fault…

Their actions are THEIR responsibility.

That’s. a. boundary. 🔥

Shake off the shame and blame they’ve been trying to make you carry, my friend.

THEY are responsible for their behaviors, their choices, and their healing (or lack thereof).

Periodt.

Now…ready for the next part?

(Might want to sit down for this).

2️⃣ YOU are responsible for yours.

And THAT is a boundary, too.

Because no, it’s NOT your fault that they are behaving badly…but it is your responsibility to choose what you are going to do about it (safely, when you are able, as you are able).

You’ve been trying a lot of things, right?

And you’ve learned a lot over the months (or years…or decades) of trying them.

Such as, walking on eggshells, avoiding conflict, stuffing your feelings, and/od begging them to change IS NOT WORKING.

So now, what?

Now we try something new.

Boundaries. 🐛✨🦋

But here’s the thing. The only person who can discover your boundaries is the one who is reading this message.

That’s YOU, my compassionate friend.

Boundaries open the door to a radically different way of living.

Safety, gently, and with love.

And YOU are worthy of that kind of life.

❤️
Molly
Cartooning the Boundaries

Are you ready to try something different?

Becoming boundaried is a beautiful, respectful, and empowering approach to dealing with difficult or toxic relationship dynamics.

Therapist-created, honor-based, and pro-relational, I’d love to give you boundary tools that FEEL GOOD to your compassionate heart!

Where to start?

With my FREE Boundaries Breakthrough Mini-Course, that’s where! 🥰🔥🦋

Inside, you’ll get to take a powerful quiz so we can find out EXACTLY what the problem is, and then we’ll focus on practical help and guidance for your next steps. ❤️

Get your free mini-course + quiz here:

Https://boundaried.com/breakthrough ✨

(Caveat: in violent or abusive relationships, take your safety seriously. Privately talking with a domestic violence professional to help you create an individualized safety plan is an important first step to safely making any other changes).

08/13/2026

"You complete me" sounds romantic and sets you up to resent them. You're not half a person looking for the other half. The best love is two whole people who chose to build together.

08/13/2026

Life will give you hundreds of reasons to be frustrated, disappointed, overwhelmed, and worried.

And while a good attitude won’t magically make your problems disappear, it will change how you move through them.

It’s not denial. It’s resilience.

Imagine waking up optimistic, confident, and in a good mood? Not because everything’s perfect, but because you’ve built the skill of expecting good things.

Because when you expect good things, you start to see good things everywhere.

Save this reminder so you can come back to it when you need it most ❤️

07/22/2026

There's a particular kind of growth that happens when you stop waiting for someone else to show up the way you needed them to and start becoming that person yourself. It's quieter than most milestones. Nobody hands you anything for it. But it changes everything about the relationships you're able to build.

Regulating before you react means catching the spike of emotion and making a choice before your nervous system makes it for you. It doesn't mean suppressing. It means responding from your values instead of your wounds.

Apologizing without defending is harder than it sounds, especially when part of you genuinely believes you had good reasons. Real accountability doesn't need a disclaimer attached to it.

Holding space without fixing is something a lot of us struggle with, particularly if we grew up learning that love meant solving things. Sometimes the most loving thing you can do is just stay present with someone in the hard feeling without rushing them out of it.

Showing up consistently is less glamorous than grand gestures but far more important. Trust is built in the ordinary moments, not the dramatic ones.

And choosing connection over being right might be the most significant one on this list. It means caring more about the relationship than the argument. That's a choice. And every time you make it, you become a little more of the partner you once needed someone to be for you.

Like and follow for more.

07/22/2026

Sometimes the most loving thing we can do is rock the boat. 🌊

In love, from love (and safely — as able, when able), rooted the solid center of our compassionate strength.

…Because if we don’t, who will?

If even the compassionate people can’t stand up, how can we expect others to do so?

My compassionate friend, becoming boundaried isn’t about just healing YOU (though that’s where it begins). 🕯️

It’s bigger than that. 🌏

Consider: have you been feeling the inner tug to deepen into your healing, empowerment, and growth?

Have you been hearing the quiet call to STOP SETTLING for being “mostly healed?”

Many of us have been on a healing journey for years — and, yes, we’ve come a long way (many of us are healers ourselves!) but…

Are you being asked to TO KEEP GOING?

To stop settling?

To stay on the path until you’ve gone ALL THE WAY (even though you don’t yet know what that is, because how can a caterpillar know what being a butterfly feels like until she becomes it)?

This is our birthright.

We are being pulled to come into the FULLNESS of our heart-centered power for a reason.

Because Love is the way — and WE are the change we’ve been looking for.

Become it. 🦋

❤️
Molly
Therapist-turned-boundaries-cartoonist

Would you like help becoming boundaried? Come experience a radically different approach for yourself, rich, deep, and embodied — now available inside my brand new community (more accessible than ever before)!

Are you ready? 🐛✨🦋
Start for free (stay only if you know it’s the right place for you).

Get your free trial here:
Https://skool.com/becomingboundaried/about

07/22/2026

Devotion isn't the loud part of love. It's the quiet, daily choosing.

Anyone can be devoted when the feelings are easy. Real devotion shows up in the unglamorous seasons, when you're tired, annoyed, or bored, and you turn toward each other anyway. It's not a feeling you're swept up in. It's a decision you keep making.

Lasting love isn't found. It's practiced.

Like this if you're built for the long haul, and follow for more.

07/22/2026

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