My Pispective on Drawing the Line

(A pispective is when you write about something in 314 words. Which doesn't count these words or the image credit)

How to decide when to draw the line on something?

This isn't quite the same as drawing a line in the sand (though its close). That's about establishing a limit over another person and using our authority to back that limit up.

Drawing the line isn't the same as underlining something either. Underlining is when we emphasise something that's important in some way. Close again, but not the same.

They're related but different. Drawing the line on something is about establishing a boundary beyond which you won't go. Drawing the line on something goes to our sense of agency and our hopes of shaping the world to our aims.

Two things spring to mind.

The first is when we unconsciously draw the line on something. This is about making powerful life statements without voicing them. People didn't need to be American, a Democrat, non-white, non-male or even politically aware to be repulsed by the US Presidential nominee. I expect quite a few lines were drawn during the course of that strange campaign.

The second is what to do, if anything, when the line is crossed. That is, when the trigger event occurs and the world becomes different. What is the use of drawing a line if it doesn't lead to a change in behaviour?

Drawing a line is about making a statement to the world that you intend to behave differently if a certain event occurs. It's a promise to your better self that you will take a step towards realising your aspirations for yourself.

So, if we don't make a significant behaviour change, did we draw a line? I don't think so. What of the opposite? If we make a significant behaviour change , did an event occur that made the world different? I think so.

This all means that statements of resolve don't matter much if we're not prepared to act on them.

Image via Pexels