Dear Cali Chica:

And it is a delight to read your post this morning! I like you being and becoming “a strong redwood sequoia”. I like it very much.

And the two of you, you and your husband having each other, striving for excellence, for growth, not settling for stagnation, that is excellent. Indeed, “no need to stoop down and look elsewhere for validation!”

Regarding the friend from brunch who “acts like her life is perfect, but has had many negative things happen to her that she chooses to pretend never did…as though she has it all figured out”- not so, she doesn’t have things figured out. And she is not calm, not for long. You saw her during brunch and she may have been calm then. You didn’t see her later in the day, or that night.

Reality doesn’t accommodate people denying it and it doesn’t adjust itself so to fit people’s convenient, wishful thinking. And people’s mental health depends on seeing reality for what it is.

anita