--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I realize I'm trying to work out the…" description: "\"“I realize I'm trying to work out the boundaries. How to love her without interfering. How to step back and let her have her private world and yet stil..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c1a/sue-monk-kidd-404_boundaries_i-realize-i-m-trying-to-work-out-the-bou_3102011.png" --- # I realize I'm trying to work out the boundaries. How to… ![“I realize I'm trying to work out the boundaries. How to love her without interfering. How to step back and let her have her private world and yet still be an intimate part of it. When she talks about her feelings, I have to consciously tell myself she wants me to receive them, not fix them.” quote by Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c1a/sue-monk-kidd-404_boundaries_i-realize-i-m-trying-to-work-out-the-bou_3102011.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c1a/sue-monk-kidd-404_boundaries_i-realize-i-m-trying-to-work-out-the-bou_3102011.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c1a/sue-monk-kidd-404_boundaries_i-realize-i-m-trying-to-work-out-the-bou_3102011.png) > ““I realize I'm trying to work out the boundaries. How to love her without interfering. How to step back and let her have her private world and yet still be an intimate part of it. When she talks about her feelings, I have to consciously tell myself she wants me to receive them, not fix them.”” [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Balancing intimacy and independence in relationships requires respecting personal space while staying emotionally present. **In simple terms:** Love needs space and presence. Key Takeaway Respect boundaries, listen without fixing. Themes relationships boundaries empathy Mood thoughtful reflective Type advice relationship When to use this quote - partner communication - conflict resolution - supportive listening Key Concepts emotional intelligence attachment theory Questions to Reflect On - How can you show love without overstepping? - When is it appropriate to offer advice? A Different Perspective Listening without solving can feel unsatisfying for both parties. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Boundaries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boundaries/) [Boundaries Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boundaries-love-843872/) [Intimate Talks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intimate-talks-2574688/) [Talks Feelings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/talks-feelings-1560752/) [Work Boundaries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/work-boundaries-1340754/) ## Related quotes > [Like most writers, we like to find what we know and pass it along to anyone who cares. When that's done, as soon as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-bach/like-most-writers-we-like-to-find-what-we-know-and-pass-it-along-to/) [Richard Bach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-bach/) > [The job of the poet is to render the world-to see it and report it without loss, without perversion. 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Love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rhonda-byrne/there-is-always-something-to-be-grateful-for-pure-love-has-no/) [Rhonda Byrne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rhonda-byrne/) > [While the mind sees only boundaries, Love knows the secret way there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/while-the-mind-sees-only-boundaries-love-knows-the-secret-way-there/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [“It’s such a cliché, but it’s true: you must set boundaries. Fucked-up people will try to tell you otherwise, but boundaries have nothing to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cheryl-strayed/it-s-such-a-clich-but-it-s-true-you-must-set-boundaries-fucked-up/) [Cheryl Strayed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cheryl-strayed/) > [Love is the greatest medicine. I ask to be healing medicine for others. I ask my heart to expand its boundaries and to love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-cameron/love-is-the-greatest-medicine-i-ask-to-be-healing-medicine-for-others/) [Julia Cameron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-cameron/) ## More by Sue Monk Kidd > [“But benevolent patriarchy is still patriarchy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/but-benevolent-patriarchy-is-still-patriarchy/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [“It's part of our overall Body Negation Program.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/it-s-part-of-our-overall-body-negation-program/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [“That was the thing mauma and I loved, our time with the quilts.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/that-was-the-thing-mauma-and-i-loved-our-time-with-the-quilts/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [In recent years my understanding of God had evolved into increasingly remote abstractions. I'd come to think of God in terms like Divine Reality,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/in-recent-years-my-understanding-of-god-had-evolved-into-increasingly/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [we need not avoid our active lives, but simply bring to them a new vision and shift of gravity. for in the center we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/we-need-not-avoid-our-active-lives-but-simply-bring-to-them-a-new/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [“The mermaids came to me finally, in the pink hours of my life. They are my consolation. 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It is the repository of the inner divine,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/i-eventually-found-that-the-soul-is-more-than-an-immortal-commodity/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [“Readiness for dying arrives by attending the smallest moment and finding the eternal inside of it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/readiness-for-dying-arrives-by-attending-the-smallest-moment-and/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [“I sat at her desk and turned one page after another, staring at what looked like bits and pieces of black lace laid cross…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/i-sat-at-her-desk-and-turned-one-page-after-another-staring-at-what/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [The translucence that comes when life hardens into a bead of such cruel perfection you see it with the purest clarity. Everything suddenly there--life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/the-translucence-that-comes-when-life-hardens-into-a-bead-of-such/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [“There's no pain on earth that doesn't require a benevolent witness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/there-s-no-pain-on-earth-that-doesn-t-require-a-benevolent-witness/) [sue monk kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [“afflicted with the worst female curse on earth, the need to mold myself to expectations.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/afflicted-with-the-worst-female-curse-on-earth-the-need-to-mold/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [“Her forbidden bath all those months ago still hung leaden between us, though Handful didn't seem the least bit ashamed by my discovery of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/her-forbidden-bath-all-those-months-ago-still-hung-leaden-between-us/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [“Why should God’s perfection be based on having an unchanging nature?” I asked. “Isn’t flexibility more perfect than stasis?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/why-should-god-s-perfection-be-based-on-having-an-unchanging-nature-i/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) [Explore all 584 Sue Monk Kidd quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) ## More Boundaries quotes > [I think the next 50 years are going to present the human race with challenges that so far exceed the limitations of geopolitical boundaries…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zachary-quinto/i-think-the-next-50-years-are-going-to-present-the-human-race-with/) [Zachary Quinto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zachary-quinto/) > [A man could be a lover and defender of the wilderness without ever in his lifetime leaving the boundaries of asphalt, powerlines, and right-angled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/a-man-could-be-a-lover-and-defender-of-the-wilderness-without-ever-in/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [God's Word does provide life lessons to teach us how to live. 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People who believe themselves ignorant of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/informed-ignorance-provides-the-natural-state-of-mind-for-research/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [I never go anywhere or do anything that transports me outside the boundaries of my mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-carlin/i-never-go-anywhere-or-do-anything-that-transports-me-outside-the/) [George Carlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-carlin/) > [As a kid, in the Runaways, I would see the interviewers start to ask about our personal lives and what we did — and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-jett/as-a-kid-in-the-runaways-i-would-see-the-interviewers-start-to-ask/) [Joan Jett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-jett/) > [Understanding science and pushing the boundaries of science is what makes me immensely satisfied.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gates/understanding-science-and-pushing-the-boundaries-of-science-is-what/) [Bill Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gates/) > [A language possesses utility only insofar as it can construct conventional boundaries. 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