A phone call from Hanna, Alberta prompted me to create a talk called, Merry Love-making: How to Enliven Long Term Intimacy. It has been presented at numerous women’s conferences and a Foster Parent retreat. The women of Hanna wanted to know how to keep a long term relationship exciting, romantic, engaging, and pleasurable. Although I […]
In my daughter Kelly’s and my book, Love Her As She Is: Lessons from a Daughter Stolen by Addictions I describe fourteen ways to love unconditionally with clear boundaries. The first way is take your frustrations to someone you trust. Family Patterns of Feeling Frustrated Life events can often trigger us to feel frustrated. As […]
The Definition of Values Values are deeply ingrained beliefs and principles that guide individuals’ behavior, decisions, and priorities. In this post we will first describe the importance of values and provide of list of values. The Oxford dictionary’s definition of a value is The regard that something is held to deserve; the importance, worth, or […]
The Marriage Hack There is exciting news for long term relationships! Dr. Eli Finkel, a professor of social psychology at Northwestern University, and his colleagues noticed that we have come to expect our spouses to fill roles traditionally filled by platonic friends; relationships such as co-workers, neighbours, and friends. This puts unnecessary pressure, and sometimes […]
Adults better influence when children feel a deep sense of connection, bonding, and caring relationship. It is the adult’s responsibility to build that parent-child relationship. In an ideal world, children would have a close physical, attaching, and bonding experience from birth forward. But sometimes this ideal picture is disrupted due to a range of family […]
There are health benefits of marriage. I have repeatedly experienced it with my good man! In February my hubby, Les and I headed south in his camper van. It was a beautiful, sunny morning when we arrived at the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum in time to catch the Raptor Free Flight demonstrations of birds-of-prey flying, […]
The dandelion laughed all summer when it failed to be a rose. Heather Johnson People differ. It doesn’t take much study to realize that personality differences exist. You can enrich your relationships when you commit to understanding your individual differences. Here is an example of how understanding preferences can minimize relationship conflict. Example of Personality […]
Kristin Neff’s book Self-Compassion: Stop Beating Yourself Up and Leave Insecurity Behind was published in 2011. Neff provides research and stories illustrating the importance of compassion toward ourselves. She also offers easy exercises that invite self-awareness, as well as self-compassion. Overview: Neff argues that being kind to yourself strengthens your emotional resilience. Some of her […]
Anger is called the misunderstood emotion because many people do not know how to use it constructively. If unmanaged it can do harm to your relationships and trigger the release of numerous stress hormones in your brain and body.
The reports of six Canadian veterans, including the death of twenty year old, Leona MacEachern of suicide, deeply troubled me. The media surmised that their despair was caused by Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), which was caused by experiencing the horror of military service. PSTD and suicide are often paired; too often! PTSD and suicide […]
What might happen if masses of people stopped looking for perfect and expecting no flaws in themselves, others, and the world? I like to say, “We’re perfectly imperfect.” On day Friend, Jannette, said to me, “Thank you to Les and you for staying married for soooooo many years. So many people are looking for the […]
Sheepishly I snuck into the freezer to grab some left-over Halloween candy. Was I unable or unwilling to tell myself,”No”? Or did I really want to say, “Yes, you deserve a sweet little treat?” Using wisely those two simple words is key to our futures. Yes, No, and the mediating term, It depends, are resiliency building tools […]
