Boundaries can be essential for a great experience

Last week I met some manatees! We were visiting them in the wild and I appreciated how clear our boat captains rules were - it led to a better experience.

To back track a second, manatees must stay warm to survive so in winter up to 2000 of them head inland to Florida hot springs where the temperature is consistently 72F. So for 4 months of the year the human and manatee worlds collide.

They’re an endangered species so a lot of conservation effort has gone towards keeping them safe close to shore, thankfully with great success. We were extensively briefed on what to do/ not do in order to protect the manatees. You’re not allowed to approach any manatees directly, you’re allowed to float in the water near them and see what happens.

These clear boundaries and consequences created the environment for an awesome experience - because the manatees came to us! The young ones are naturally curious and swam to greet us at they would their own (nose to nose). The rules and framework made us confident during the experience because we knew how to behave, making it one of my favourite life experiences ever.

So it got me thinking - how could we thrive by setting set clearer boundaries in our own lives?