Everyone’s Doing The Best That They Can
“All I know is that my life is better when I assume that people are doing their best. It keeps me out of judgment and lets me focus on what is, and not what should or could be.” ~Brené Brown…
Category “love & relationships”
Accepting People You Dislike as They Are: How It Benefits You and How to Do It
“We often give our enemies the means of our own destruction.” ~Aesop, The Eagle and the Arrow
We can sometimes have difficulty accepting our friends, family, and loved ones as they are when their habits, quirks, or behavior annoy us…
Make the Difference You Want to Make by Expanding Your Network, Mindfully
I used to hate the word “networking.” It evoked images of impersonal conversations and awkward business card exchanges, neither of which excite me. More importantly, I defined “networking” as meeting people with an agenda: to use them to further your …
There Are a Gazillion Little Ways to Be Kind (and It Benefits You Too)
“The place to improve the world is first in one’s own heart and head and hands.” ~Robert M. Pirsig
One day while grocery shopping I was reaching for a head of lettuce when I heard a shrill, high-pitched wail from …
Dating from a Place of Self-Love: How Being Yourself Changes Everything
“You must learn to love yourself before you can love someone else.” ~Sonja Mylin
It’s tough being out there.
I remember myself some years ago embracing the world of online dating. Everyone kept telling me “be yourself” (and I …
8 Things I Learned from Watching My Mum Die
“Pain changes your life forever. But so does healing from it.” ~Kayil York
In 2012 my mum got diagnosed with cancer. After an operation, she was cancer-free for some time when in March 2017 it was discovered that the cancer …
A Simple Practice to Help You Appreciate How Wonderful You Are
“Stop criticizing yourself for everything you aren’t and start appreciating yourself for everything you are.” ~Unknown
Are you your own best friend, your own worst critic, or somewhere in between? Do you tend to focus on what you see as …
Why I Got Caught Up in the Drama of an On-and-Off Relationship
“One reason people resist change is because they focus on what they have to give up instead of what they have to gain.” ~Rick Godwin
Dave and I met earlier this January. I was immediately attracted to his aquamarine eyes …
Healing, Forgiving, and Loving After a Painful Break Up
“People come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. When you figure out which it is, you will know exactly what to do.” ~Anonymous
About five years ago, I learned the biggest lesson of my life …
Coping with Your Partner’s Life-Altering Medical Condition
“We don’t know what’s causing it,” I say to friends for what feels like the hundredth time. My boyfriend has been unable to walk or stand without pain for two years. And no doctors can seem to figure out why.…
When the Euphoria Fades: Dealing with the Highs and Lows of Love
“We come to love not by finding a perfect person, but by learning to see an imperfect person perfectly.” ~Sam Keen
When we fall in love, we feel excited to experience some of the most joyful moments of our lives. …
5 Practices That Helped Me Stop Being a People Pleaser
“If you spend your life pleasing others, you spend your life.” ~Cheryl Richardson
Looking back on my life, I came to realize that I spent quite a high amount of my precious time trying. Trying to be perfect. Trying to …
How to Stop Losing Yourself and Giving Your Power Away in Dating
“Daring to set boundaries is about having the courage to love ourselves, even when we risk disappointing others.” ~Brené Brown
I was a serial dater for a decade.
Dating can be fun and exciting, but it can also …
What My Dog Taught Me About Self-Acceptance
“Because one accepts oneself, the whole world accepts him or her.” ~Lao Tzu
We all have recorded messages playing in our heads, from long ago.
Listen to parents talking to young children. Often the message is less than approving.
“Don’t …
The Top 7 Reasons We Stay in Bad Relationships
“Some of us think that holding on makes us strong; but sometimes it is letting go.” ~Hermann Hesse
She knew it sooner than I did. And more intensely than I did.
I, on the other hand, may have considered our …
It’s All About Perception: You Can Look Through the Lens of Love or Fear
“We are not responsible for what our eyes are seeing. We are responsible for how we perceive what we are seeing.” ~Gabrielle Bernstein
One of the things I love about this journey of personal growth is that we get to …
Recognizing the Strategic Manipulation of Financial Abuse
“I have endured, I have been broken, I have known hardship, I have lost myself. But here I stand, still moving forward, growing stronger each day.” ~Unknown
There was a time, not so long ago, when I was struggling with …
You Can’t Change or Fix People, So Listen Instead
“When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen.” ~Ernest Hemingway
The chances are good that at some point in your life you had to deal with a loved one who consistently frustrated you. They were caught in a destructive …
How to Get Past Blame and Shame and Strengthen Your Relationship
I used to think that if I told my wife exactly what’s wrong with her, her response would be, “Yes, I see it now! Thank you for showing me the errors of my ways.”
To my surprise, that never happened. …
Understanding the Cycle of Pain: How to Transmute Anger into Empathy
“When we get angry, we suffer. If you really understand that, you also will be able to understand that when the other person is angry, it means that she is suffering. When someone insults you or behaves violently towards you, …
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