This past weekend I was watching Disney’s Chicken Little with my son and I thought it was a great movie. I couldn’t believe I had never watched it before. It’s geared towards a younger audience, but it has many important life lessons to teach us. One of these, is the power to accept what has […]

In the last blog on this topic I talked about how families differ in their handling of emotions. Parents are the primary role-models for how emotions are to be dealt with in family units. Children learn how to process their emotions by watching what their parents do (or do not do) with their own feelings. […]

This week I was listening to a lecture on anxiety and the speaker talked about “optimal anxiety.” Now, when I first hear the word “anxiety” I do not feel warm and fuzzy. However, the speaker stated there is a healthy form of anxiety that motivates people to successfully accomplish difficult tasks and this is “optimal […]

“I can’t believe I slept so late, I’m so lazy.” “I will never get all of this done in time, I’m so stupid for offering to help.” “I’m such an idiot! I can’t believe I forgot my book again!” “There is no way I could pull this outfit off, I’m way too fat.”

We are all human and as perfect as we think we might be, we all have our faults. Life is not about finding the negative, but about embracing ourselves as a whole, accepting others for who they are, and empowering the past. The life you have lived can be either a foundation for the future […]

I have had many transitions in my life the past couple of years. Thankfully, most of them have been very good ones. Transitions are funny in that they can be “good” or “bad” and “planned” or “unplanned.”  For example, I planned to get married and I planned to have children. But I never “plan” to […]

Are you in the middle of a life transition? Or are you facing one in the near future? Maybe you are about to get married or are pregnant with your first child. Maybe you will graduate high school this year and are preparing to go away to college. Maybe you have just received an incurable […]

February is Teen Dating Violence Month. It is a month to raise awareness about abuse in teens and 20-something relationships. Teen dating violence is not something that is spoken about very often, and many times it’s not something that comes to mind when watching the teenage couple walking into the movie theater, but it is […]

A young woman and young man posing for a picture before heading off to their senior prom.  A bride and groom standing on a beach reciting their wedding vows. A mother of a new baby getting up at all hours of the night to feed, change and rock her new baby. A kindergarten teacher giving […]

Do you know someone who is the perfect gift-giver? Are you great at gift-giving? The secret to being good at giving gifts is understanding the “love language” of your gift recipient. For example, one of my close friends loves food and gifts in general, so any gift related to food makes her happy. I have given her […]