Polished Northwest Arkansas

"Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it." Proverbs 4:23 (NIV)

While the rest of the world sets goals and creates vision boards, we are doing things a little counter-culturally. This month, we’re talking about boundaries. Before conceiving sustainable progress toward our goals, we must tend to our inner world and remind ourselves what’s ours to nurture. Or, as Proverbs puts it, we must do the work to guard our hearts, knowing that everything we do flows from it.

So, what does it look like to guard our hearts as women anchored in faith and ambitious with work?

It begins with boundaries.

In her book Set Boundaries, Find Peace, Nedra Tawwab says, “The ability to say no to yourself is a gift. If you can resist your urges, change your habits, and say yes to only what you deem truly meaningful, you’ll be practicing healthy self-boundaries. It’s your responsibility to care for yourself without excuses.”

What would it look like to take this month to rest, care for yourself, set some healthy rhythms, and practice saying no? How would that set you up to make space for growth at work, connection in your relationships, and flourishing in your spirituality? Boundaries protect us from burnout and resentment while clarifying our limits and values. Join us this month as we don’t just talk about boundaries but do the work to discover, implement, and practice them, knowing it’ll set us up for a beautiful year of flourishing!

Melissa Harrison is a bilingual journalist with more than 20 years of experience in television and radio news. She has worked as a news anchor and reporter in six different television markets including WNBC in New York City and WFAA-TV in Dallas/Fort Worth. Melissa has also worked as a writer for ABC’s World News Tonight and as a morning news anchor for CBS Radio.

Melissa founded PURE in New York City in 2004 where she served Christian women leaders through events and retreats until 2016. She also served women executives at the C-Suite level through the CEO Forum from 2021 until 2023.

Melissa is currently an Executive in Residence at SMU where she teaches Digital Media. She earned her master’s in Journalism from Columbia University and her bachelor’s in Spanish and Communications from Baylor. She also studied with Syracuse University at the Instituto Internacional in Madrid, Spain.

Melissa and her husband live in Dallas with their three young children.

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