I agree that those specific instructions probably apply only to your situation, La Texican, but they are a good example of setting boundaries. Setting boundaries within difficult relationships can be scary, but I've found that it can also be freeing. Both parties then have the opportunity to break out of the painful pattern.

Part of what I've had to work on though, is accepting that I can't heal my parents. That is really work that they will have to do themselves. So we may never have the relationship I longed for. That's a sad thing, but I don't have to stay locked into that painful pattern with them. I can grow up.