Understanding your limitations. How 's that going for you?

Paco Dennis

Paco Dennis

SF VIP
Location
Mid-Missouri
I am using the word limitation to describe boundaries or obstacles that prevent us from achieving our full potential or goals. They can be internal or external, self-imposed or imposed by others. Do you uderstand/know what your limitations are, and do accept them and stay within their boundaries? Do you push the limits? Do you purposly go beyond them?

For example: We had several limitations during the Covid epidemic. We also all know what they were and the decisions we made to comply.These limitations impacted us all and changed our society.

My question for you is simple. How do you cope with limitations that are hard to accept? Does it change your "happy" mood into a "sour" mood? Do you get frustrated or angry? Do you experiment at the boundaries? Do you accept them? Do you even care about "limitations"?
 

I accept some boundaries but rebel against others!

I have a winterization job every year- to winterize my hot tub. It gives me a lot of relief from a severe foot pronation problem.
My other winterization jobs are easy. But for some reason I always dread doing the hot tub job.

But yesterday was a perfect day to do it- hot here with no wind and low pollen count.

It was easy to do- it always is!-and I reminded myself that, for over 10 years, I have had the dread of not being able to do it, then feeling Great when it is done.

Our weather is going to drastically change tonight to lower temps, and that is another reason I wanted to get this job done.


Sometimes I think we ,ourselves, create boundaries and limitations, on ourselves, that do not exist.

I also found that by doing my Bone Builders exercises , during Fall and winter, this too relieves the foot discomfort that the hot tub alleviated.

I am a goal oriented person and I believe goals can keep us going ,even when they involve some limitations.
 
Paco Dennis said:
I am using the word limitation to describe boundaries or obstacles that prevent us from achieving our full potential or goals. They can be internal or external, self-imposed or imposed by others. Do you uderstand/know what your limitations are, and do accept them and stay within their boundaries? Do you push the limits? Do you purposly go beyond them?

For example: We had several limitations during the Covid epidemic. We also all know what they were and the decisions we made to comply.These limitations impacted us all and changed our society.

My question for you is simple. How do you cope with limitations that are hard to accept? Does it change your "happy" mood into a "sour" mood? Do you get frustrated or angry? Do you experiment at the boundaries? Do you accept them? Do you even care about "limitations"?
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Many limitations I experience throughout the day can change my mood. Physical limitations. If I am unable to accomplish a task I can become frustrated. There are limitations dealing with making appointment. Those are set by the businesses especially doctors. Not having enough time to finish what I am involved in. I guess this question is a dud here so I will ask Big Chat. :)

That is a very interesting question. Personal limitations are the boundaries or self-protective mechanisms that we set for ourselves based on our unique experiences, abilities, and circumstances1. Some common personal limitations include fear of failure, a lack of self-confidence, perfectionism, and poor time management2.

It is important to care about personal limitations because they can affect our success and happiness in life. Personal limitations can stop us from living a fulfilled life and going after our goals1. They can also prevent us from developing our potential and achieving our dreams3.

However, caring about personal limitations does not mean that we have to accept them as fixed or permanent. We can challenge and overcome our personal limitations by recognizing them, understanding their causes, and taking action to change them1. We can also seek help from others, such as friends, family, mentors, or therapists, who can support us and provide us with feedback and guidance4.

By caring about personal limitations, we can become more aware of ourselves and our strengths and weaknesses. We can also learn to embrace our limits and use them as opportunities for growth and improvement. As the documentary Limitless shows, embracing our limits can make us limitless4
 

My limitations have been increasingly physical, since the last few years. For one, I am unable to drive at night because my night vision has worsened. That limits my activities that I used to be involved with. I could ask for a ride for an evening event, and probably will if the event or activity is important enough. Or I can take a Lyft. I am resourceful, so I try and work around that limitation. Or I choose other activities instead. Another limitation is my neck problem, so I have to be careful in lifting and carrying heavy weights. So it has become a habit to do things a certain way as a result.

The important thing is to not let the limitation affect my quality of life.
 
It isn't a trivial matter. I'm sometimes shocked to realize how much I've changed in 15 years. Heck, even 5 years. Much of that is physical: strength, endurance, balance, flexibility. Some of that has improved, probably due to giving it attention. Other changes are more scary though, probably because they take place inside my head where they can jab directly at me with their pitchforks. I can probably do more to work on that stuff too.

Making an effort to push through at even mundane things and then acknowledging the small successes seems to help. Laundry, mowing, leaf raking, even getting up and putting outgoing mail into the mailbox or putting that new proof of insurance out into the car all count. Anything with a finish line I can cross helps.
 
Paco Dennis said:
What is your reaction when they do not make sense? Are you incensed? :)
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Most of the time I find them laughable. Some imposed limitations do anger me, and if I view them as unjust, they make me furious. But that's when I also understand that I'm fairly powerless. Powerless to change it, that is. But I still refuse to observe unjust or unfair limitations, unless that's impossible. And I can't think of a time when it was impossible except when I was a child.
 
Understanding one's personal limitations starts when we are small children and continues throughout life. The young child throwing screaming tantrum fits soon learns they are NOT in control. A peon adult that envies living in an expensive upscale residence comes to understand such is not worth even spending time dreaming about. People must use such personal assessments everyday throughout their lives. The amount of influence and control over various limitations varies immensely as does relative importance. Not much value in pushing honest limits that have possible significant negative consequences.

If for the sake of health, I eat a second cookie after telling myself will have just one, the result is trivial. If I tried to swim across the cold seas at the Golden Gate, I'd become seafood. If I see an attractive single woman I'd like to meet, would need to consider much social and personal complexities. As a young kid I learned there was not much value in becoming emotional for unrealistic expectations. In this world in this existence, I'm like a small wooden twig floating down the Mississippi River in flood, unable to do much more than float along in the stream. Much more.
 
Yes, my limitations are also physical due to old age and health issues, I try to work around them or go slowly until I get it done, when all else fails I'll call the children, isn't that what children are suppose to do?.....my reaction to these limitations....as a type a, can do person all my life....is sadness...but hey, it is what it is.
 
Paco Dennis said:
I am using the word limitation to describe boundaries or obstacles that prevent us from achieving our full potential or goals. They can be internal or external, self-imposed or imposed by others. Do you uderstand/know what your limitations are, and do accept them and stay within their boundaries? Do you push the limits? Do you purposly go beyond them?

For example: We had several limitations during the Covid epidemic. We also all know what they were and the decisions we made to comply.These limitations impacted us all and changed our society.

My question for you is simple. How do you cope with limitations that are hard to accept? Does it change your "happy" mood into a "sour" mood? Do you get frustrated or angry? Do you experiment at the boundaries? Do you accept them? Do you even care about "limitations"?
Click to expand...
I understand my limitations, I push to make improvements, but accept certain realities as being all I can do. I don't get frustrated or angry...why?
I've lead a blessed life, I consider all the "ups & downs" a learning experience, not a curse.
 
We all have limitations or boundaries. That is just a part of life. They usually change as we age. Rather than geting frustrated I am trying to anticipate changes I will have to make and taking the steps to handle them as they arise.

There will most likely come a time when it is not worth it, and I have also given thought to what I will do then. It helps me feel in control and eases any anxiety I may have about aging.
 
I don't think about being limited. I'm sure if I tried and couldn't do something I'd remember why I couldn't.

I just thought of a deterrent. When going out I wear a wrist watch, I can't fasten the strap since I have no use of my left hand. No problem, my wife fastens & unfastens it for me. If she wasn't here I'd buy a flex band that didn't need fastened. No use of the left hand is inconvenient but not a deterrent to doing stuff.
 
It's the age old psychology question: Does frustration lead to aggression?

The frustration-aggression hypothesis states that aggression is a result of frustration. Frustration is any event or stimulus that prevents an individual from attaining a goal and it's accompanying reinforcement quality (Dollard & Miller, 1939).

Summary​

  • The frustration-aggression hypothesis is based on the psychodynamic approach. When people are frustrated, they experience a drive to be aggressive toward the object of their frustration, but this is often impossible or inappropriate, so the source of their aggression is displaced by something or someone else.
  • It uses the concepts of catharsis (relieving emotional tension) and displacement (unconscious defense mechanism whereby the mind diverts emotions from their original source to a less threatening, dangerous, or unacceptable one to avoid experiencing anxiety).
  • Frustration is a feeling of tension that occurs when our efforts to reach a goal are blocked. According to this theory, proposed by Dollard (1939), frustration often leads to aggression.
Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis
 
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When you meet a stone wall, say the Great Wall of China, and you can't catapult yourself over it, or break it down, or walk around it, and have thought again deviously and creatively without success, remember the Serenity Prayer.
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.
 

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