A boundary isn’t a wall against people. It’s the property line of who you are.

Boundaries get mistaken for rejection because they involve the word no, but the purpose is definition rather than exclusion. A line tells people where you actually are, which lets them stay close without constant guessing. Without one, closeness turns into erosion, and resentment gathers in the space where a clear answer should have been. Saying where you end is a way of letting people in accurately.

Name one thing you have been quietly tolerating and say it once, plainly, without apology or a long justification. Keep it to a sentence. Most people adjust more easily than the dread suggests.