Title: Violating Boundaries: Assert Yourself And Take Charge Word Count: 1287 Summary: "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." – Benjamin Franklin Are you sick and tired of being treated like a doormat and having people walk all over you? If you answered yes, read on... It’s time you learn to assert yourself by respecting and honoring your personal and professional boundaries. It is important that you do so because if you can’t look out for yourself, nobody else will. We have all... Keywords: self, assertiveness, leadership, training, assert, relationahips, advice, hero, writer, author, book Article Body: "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." – Benjamin Franklin Are you sick and tired of being treated like a doormat and having people walk all over you? If you answered yes, read on... It’s time you learn to assert yourself by respecting and honoring your personal and professional boundaries. It is important that you do so because if you can’t look out for yourself, nobody else will. We have all at one time or another experienced boundary violations from friends, relatives, or co-workers be it intentional or unintentional. Such encounters can become very uncomfortable and difficult to deal with, especially when dealing with people you know intimately. How can you stop the cycle of abuse and take control of your life? It starts with self-honoring and self-respect. Know yourself. Know your strengths and weaknesses, know what you stand for and what you don’t stand for, know your boundaries. As the Greeks once said, “Know thyself and you will know the Gods and the universe.” Be aware of your physical, emotional, and social boundaries in the different areas of your life including personal, professional, family, and relationships. Take the time to honestly communicate with boundary violators letting them know in no uncertain terms that you don’t appreciate being treated in a certain way and will not tolerate it. Different circumstances will call for different ways of dealing with such issues depending on your work, your personality, and the situation. For example, Rebecca Rosenblat (aka Dr. Date) is a Toronto sex therapist who does the lecture circuit on sexual relationships and driving one’s lover wild in bed. As you can imagine, she is having her boundaries violated all the time. Many people assume, wrongly, that because she is a public figure and authority on sex that they have the right to make sexual innuendos and inappropriate remarks. If that weren’t bad enough, some deranged people think they actually have the right to have sex with her! One such person walked up to her after she finished delivering her seminar and bluntly stated, “I’d like to f*@#k