There are stages in life when making friends is easy – school years, then as parents when our children are growing up, or in a work environment. Friendship is important. We all know that, but why? “A review of 38 studies found that adult friendships, especially high-quality ones that provide social support and companionship, significantly predict well-being and can protect against mental health issues such as depression and anxiety—and those benefits persist across...

If you have parents that are getting older, there may be new issues that you both have to deal with. Have you ever noticed that their world may become smaller when friends and family move away? There can be issues of all kinds from mobility to illness, to feelings of isolation. They may feel that their independence is being taken away, and you may feel the added responsibility of caring not only for their needs, but their happiness. I can remember when my sister and I had to take the car keys...

We’ve all been in the situation when we are trying to hold onto a good feeling, but there is someone in our life who is in a foul mood, or too demanding, controlling, and maybe even sending mixed messages to have us doubt our direction or even the connection to our center.

This is part of life and learning, and there are ways to navigate the waters. Let’s explore the difference between healthy relationships that have some conflict, like any real relationship, and a...

#1 Truth – We all want love; in fact, we need it to survive. As children, we grow up in families where the parents or caregivers are doing the best they know how, but oftentimes they themselves did not grow up in a secure household, so they don’t know how to model that for their kids. Have you ever felt yourself to be in that situation? 

Most children had to find a way to navigate that landscape, to get whatever love was available.  Why? Love means...

REPRINTED FROM MEDIUM - March 19, 2020

With fear escalating and most people having to stay under one roof together, it’s easy to let our emotions get the best of us. Little irritations can be amplified, and unless there is a way to release the stress, and intentionally direct energy in a positive way, too much togetherness can become hard to take.

In China, an MSN article quoting Lu Shijun, manager of a marriage registry in Dazhou, in the Sichuan Province, saying...

Have you ever known that you had to deal with a difficult conversation, and you were just dreading it?  But if it went on too long,  the apprehension could grow even bigger in your mind. This can happen in a work setting, with your partner, talking with kids. friends or relatives. Nobody really wants to pick a fight, but sometimes:

• Boundaries have to be established

• There’s a painful or delicate subject that needs to be spoken about

• We may have to...

There’s something brewing, and it’s happening around the world. I just learned that Denmark has a National Movement against Loneliness, the UK appointed a Minister for Loneliness, There’s an Australian Coalition to End Loneliness, and in a survey done in the US, 46% of people self-reported as lonely.

What’s up, and what can we do about it?

Can we agree that friendship is such an important part of life? Not only does it help us live longer, heal faster,...

Thanksgiving is a time to come together to reconnect, enjoy a harvest feast, and appreciate life, including the people around us. Yet for so many, it’s not all stuffing your face and laughter. Family dynamics may be strained at the outset, and in contentious times, it’s easy to get sucked into focusing on what we don’t agree on. Here are some tips to make the most of this genuinely awesome occasion:

1. Find the Humor and Tap into Forgiveness

When Aunt Sally does her...

“You cannot erase memories, but you can let go of the heavy energy that is attached to them.” – Yung Pueblo

No one can go through life without being hurt by another human - often it’s not intentional, but it can certainly feel that way. What do you do with those emotions? How do you transcend, forgive and move on?

Sometimes forgiveness has two levels – the more obvious is forgiving someone else who hurt us or someone we love. But...

Most of us think we have all the time in the world.  If we can’t get to something today, there's always tomorrow.  There’s a good reason for this; at the end of the day, you have to say the day is done, tomorrow is another day, which is all true.  However, here’s an invitation: what if you could wake up each morning, not with a sigh, but with anticipation. I wonder what the day will bring. What can I be excited about, what could I do to surprise myself or...