Jonathan A. Buckland
Have you ever considered that the English language has 26 letters in it? This seems to be rather limiting until you open up a dictionary and discover the tens of thousands of variations and ways these letters can be placed together to produce words. Each word holds meaning. The arrangement of the words will tell a story. Each story empowers you to enter a world that is distinct and unique, transmitting feeling and thought.
Now, imagine, for a moment, the limitations each of us possess in our lives. Often, we view these limitations as deficits that must be overcome, so we can produce meaning in our lives when our story comes to an ending. In reality, you do not have the power to change many limitations. You can, however, use your limitations to produce meaning that is unique and robust.
Limits Are Boundaries
One helpful way to look at this concept is through understanding a limit as a clear set boundary. The ocean has a shoreline, which becomes the limit or boundary. When the limit of the shoreline is accepted, much good can come from it. Entire communities and economies have been built around a shoreline limitation. Boardwalks, shops, hotels and restaurants begin to pop up all around the area. All of this happens because the ebbs and flows of the sea come up to the shoreline and create beauty, which has fertilized the dreams of humanity for centuries.
When a storm brews and the waves pick up water that crashes down on the shoreline to demolish the limit which was set, destruction results. We use language that describes success as “crushing it” or “killing it” as descriptive of a successful endeavor. Could it be that this communicates something deep underneath the surface of our lives we know intuitively, yet struggle to recognize practically? Maybe we aren’t crushing the competitor as much as we are crushing our limits. I am not saying we don’t go through seasons where we push and break through barriers. What I am saying is there is a difference between breaking through something or being defined as a limit breaker.
If I don’t have the ability to respect a limit externally, how could I ever begin to respect limits internally? Push through limits long enough, and you will become numb to what speaks loudly to you to slow down. To know danger is ahead if you keep bulldozing your way through things requires knowing and appreciating your limits. What if your limits weren’t your enemy? What if your limits were given as a gift to cause creativity to be born in your life? The greatest inventions come through the greatest limitation experiences.
Limits Are Gifts
Limits are gifts given to express love and create value. The connection between limits and value is inseparable. We could use time as an example. Regardless of your background or family of origin, you are given the same 24-hour period of time. Understanding this causes you to recognize time as a resource which must be managed well displaying what you value. If I invest an hour into mentoring another individual, I have just given them a finite resource called “time,” which is limited in my life. I will never be able to get the block of time back. Therefore, the moment I give the individual my time, I am gifting something valuable to me and, ultimately, to them. The gift I give them is a portion of a limited resource I have in my life. When I give the gift of time, I am showing them love, as well as expressing value through my act of generosity. If time were not a limited resource, it would no longer be valuable. If time were no longer valuable, I could give my time to individuals, and they would never be able to encounter the love I have for them through this expression. The old adage, “Money can’t buy me love,” is absolutely true. Money may buy your attention for the moment, but only time given can truly express love and show the value you place on another individual. This understanding is key to giving myself permission to embrace limits as a gift. When I am pushing limits constantly, I run the risk of breaking through a barrier, yet losing what is valuable in the process.
Limits Create Clarity
Limits create clarity in our lives. Picture your day as a box given to you each morning. This box is filled with 1,440 balls. Each ball represents a sixty second segment of time called a minute. All of these units of time make up the entirety of a period called a day. You are asked to give those 1,440 balls to anyone or anything throughout your day. The only stipulation is once you give the ball away you can never retrieve it back. Additionally, an account keeping track of all the balls you give is being recorded. When life is over, the final calculations will be determined, and each ball represents the level of priority and importance placed on each item or individual. Priorities and importance is determined by what we give our units of time to.
This may be a sobering concept to contemplate, yet, this is what is happening. Knowing time is a limited resource given as a gift causes me to clearly define how I want to live my life. The two approaches you can take are to define how you want to live or just hope things turn out. Recognizing limitations pushes me to clarify priorities. All those moments we thought would last forever had an expiration date on them. The opportunities we assumed would be there disappear as the years go by. Realizing the limited resource of time, I begin to intentionally decide how to utilize time as a gift.
Limitations create clarity, and clarity creates priorities. What if you began to embrace your limitations rather than run away from them? What if you approached your limitations as a gift rather than pushing your limits, cursing your limits, and becoming frustrated with your limits?
Let me give you a moment of clarity and permission. You are not responsible for things outside of your limits, but you are responsible for things within your limits. Allow me to give you permission to release those things beyond you, and embrace those things in front of you.
Limits Release Creativity
Limits have the power to release creativity within us. I often hear the admonishment to “think outside of the box.” This phrase attempts to get us to push the limits and enter a new way of thinking. While there is value in fresh perspectives leading to new concepts and ideas, I am not so sure the limitation of the box is always the problem. We frequently curse the box or limitation we are experiencing stifling our creativity. Oftentimes, the box creates frameworks, allowing me to express myself in new and fascinating ways.
The analogy of 26 letters in the English alphabet makes it clear there is an abundance of creativity released within limitations. Sometimes, being so focused on thinking outside of the box, we grossly undervalue the potential beauty created within the box. There will be individuals who step out of the box and create new worlds others can’t fathom. However, most people are creative when given permission to embrace limits to create something beautiful from the pieces of their lives. Instead of utilizing your energy and focus on what is outside of your limitation, embrace the limitation as a framework for the beauty you are painting. The materials of your life are what you will utilize to create a masterpiece with the story you are writing. Limits force us to focus, which enables us to create beauty. Limits, if embraced, can become tools utilized by an artisan to craft and create beauty for the world to enjoy.
Perhaps your limits may be time, financial, the community you live in, your family of origin, or your educational attainment. Whatever the limit is, stop sending your energy towards your limitation, and choose to embrace it. Embracing the limitation doesn’t mean it will become your story forever. It may be for this season you are in. You will never learn to release your creative energy within your limitation until you are willing to embrace the limitation and allow the value it releases into your life.
Let me give you permission to embrace your limitation, so it can set you up to build a life of significance over time. Dreams aren’t born overnight; they require a grounding in your moment, so you can begin to soar and reach for what can be.
Jonathan Buckland has a B.A. in Organizational Management & Leadership and an M.A. in Ministerial Leadership. He currently serves as faculty with Destiny Leadership Institute and works with churches and leaders as a consultant. He has recently released a digital book entitled, Permissionary, which can be purchased and downloaded to your Kindle App.Jonathan Buckland has a B.A. in Organizational Management & Leadership and an M.A. in Ministerial Leadership. He currently serves as faculty with Destiny Leadership Institute and works with churches and leaders as a consultant. He has recently released a digital book entitled, Permissionary, which can be purchased and downloaded to your Kindle App.
