Growing with gratitude for life's challenges
“What’s her name?” “I can’t tell you.” “What? Why not? Do I know her?” “No, Mom. If I tell you her name, you’ll ask too many questions that I’m not ready to answer yet.” “Oh.” “A son is sweetness and strength and mystery;” Call it Mother’s intuition, but I could tell there was someone special […]
Read MoreThe pressure to match unrealistic physical standards is damaging for all genders, as so effectively illustrated in today’s reblog.
Read MoreTo-do list: write publish a blog post shower and dress strip the bed and remake vacuum and dust bedroom put away groceries from yesterday prep veggies for cooking make vegetable curry make red lentil kale soup make spicy tomato chick pea soup put away clothes from laundry Reality: slept late wrote and published blog post […]
Read MoreYesterday, I was ready to give up – on everything. I was convinced that my husband’s distraction meant he didn’t love me and that our marriage was coming to an end. I panicked to think that we are planning to leave home and I will be cut off from family. I convinced myself that I […]
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FREE FROM CODEPENDENCY As I work longer with clients, it is clear that the parenting style that they were subjected to as a child is extremely important in determining how they see the world. This conditioning is often taken into adulthood and causes dysfunction in relationships and in life generally. This includes anyone who feels […]
Read MoreFrankenstein legs, I call them, these long, slender appendages once a treasured asset, now stiff and unpredictable. Hunchbacked is my stance thanks to weakened back muscles. Cruella de Vil has nothing on me, my formerly auburn waves salt and pepper with a shock of white at the front. And when I speak there is hesitation […]
Read MoreNeeds, it seems, are an important ingredient in any healthy relationship. I’ve been listening to Esther Perel’s podcast: Where Should We Begin? and in almost every couple’s counselling session she records, needs come up. “I’ve never been any good at identifying my needs,” I tell my therapist in a recent session. “In fact, from an […]
Read MoreFather worked six days a week, and with the exception of Saturday, was gone from 7:30 am to 10:30 pm. Sundays were reserved for family day: usually church, visiting, and a formal dinner. He could be fun at times, but typically he was tyrannical – angry and critical – calling us idiots, useless, and expletives […]
Read MorePermanence is not a quality of harmony. Can’t understand why I should ever hope for such a thing, yet here I am disappointed again, disagreement having chipped away at momentary bliss. Must have been born to please; born not with the usual film of childbirth, but with a bluish red hue of guilt – the […]
Read MoreOriginally posted on One Woman's Quest:
At thirty-one, I had to learn to change my approach to life, because the old way wasn’t working. The old way put me at the center of the family (even though I was fifth born), listening to and attempting to resolve every family issue: Do you think your…
One Woman's Quest II 