Knowing limits again

When one talks of anything, there seems to be an idea that there is only one meaning to it. I have had occassion to talk of it before on a different subject. "Don't you trust me?" is a question, for example, which automatically gets answered on the basis of trusting the integrity of the other person. But, it could mean that the distrust is on the knowledge of the other person - as in, I may trust my child not to steal from me but do I necessarily trust him to invest well? It could mean a distrust of some other characteristic than honesty as in, say, do I trust the other person to keep a secret? Generally, this idiotic idea that a word has only one meaning is the reason why people get manipulated very easily.

Take this limits thing for example. In the previous post I had discussed how you need to know the limits of your own capabilities. But IS that the only limit you face in life? Tiru has this to say to prove that there ARE others...

Nunikkombar erinaar aqthiranth thookkin uyirkkirudhi aagi vidum - Tirukkural

To try to climb beyond the tip of the topmost branch of a tree could end your life - Loose translation

Tiru indicates that you need to understand another set of limits. The limits imposed by the environment. If you are in mining and exploration, say, you need to stay within the geographical limits within which you are allowed to explore. Going beyond them may not exactly kill you but it could kill your company. (OR, in this modern world, kill a great many people in that country depending on which country owes allegiance to your company...ouch...which country your company owes allegiance to.)

Which brings me to that other point...the limits imposed by the laws of the country. (AGAIN with the caveat that, perhaps, your company is not big enough to have the laws rewritten) You may find that growing beyond a certain size makes it less profitable for your company; flouting the labor laws of the country causes your company intolerable losses; and so on.

Even when you DO think that you can rewrite the laws, you still need to assess the limits imposed and the cost of having the limitations removed. There HAVE been cases where those costs have been incurred and, thanks to those costs, the company has ended up bankrupt.

In life, it is alright to think of pushing the envelope. The point IS to know WHEN you are pushing it and what is the cost of doing so. Rushing about rashly hither and thither is NOT pushing the envelope. It is to tear it into pieces and later on whining that you did not even know it existed!