You may feel responsible and mature as you shoulder burdens for loved ones today. Perhaps you are helping a sick family member with their responsibilities or offering support and encouragement for a friend going through difficult circumstances. While your loyalty is likely appreciated by others, you may also want to be sure you have some personal boundaries in place so you don't take on too much. You might designate a specific time you can devote to helping loved ones, or speak honestly and openly with them about your desire to help and the necessity of not neglecting your own obligations. With this forthright approach, you should be able to work together to form a plan that benefits both of you today.

Setting personal boundaries about our availability to assist loved ones allows us to serve from a genuine sense of love rather than grudging duty. While most of us would do anything possible to help our loved ones, we might be tempted to neglect our own responsibilities and end up feeling resentful about the time we spend assisting others. If we set clear boundaries about the time we have available, we can come up with creative solutions that help us meet our own obligations while still doing what we can to help our friends and family members. With an honest and practical approach to your responsibilities today, you can easily find ways to meet the needs of your loved ones and yourself.