Dear Soul-searcher:

Thank you for the blessings message at the end of your posts. Regarding his mother regretting “being this strict” with him, I don’t know what this-strict means. People use the word strict often enough as an acceptable word for unacceptable aggression. If he is indeed happy to be talking to his parents, well… let him be, let him initiate those calls. When a person is happy doing something, they already have the motivation to do it.

I have neighbors, the wife has been pushing her husband to be nice to his mother, sounds… nice, doesn’t it? Except that being nice to his mother keeps him sick. Not a good input by the wife, harming her husband that way.

Being assertive and doing-no-harm is an excellent combination, isn’t it.

anita