A real friend is the gift of a lifetime. It is special someone who is in your life in a significant way. Good friendship is a sacred two-sided connection with a person we have much in common with yet also respects differences with each other. A real friend knows our worst qualities and challenges us …
Unfortunately many good parents these days overdo it with their kids. They make their children their whole lives and neglect their own identities and marital well-being. It’s as if they have no other identity other than being a parent. Their overzealousness and striving for perfection is somewhat understandable. The world is so threatening and complex …
I’ll never forget the day my friend Martin told me he just got diagnosed with cancer. As I sat sad and stupefied across from him over coffee I silently mused over the possibility that this charming old wise man may leave us way too soon. His erudition and idiosyncratic views of life are legendary. He …
He who falls in love with himself will have no rivals. — Benjamin Franklin Please pardon me for talking about a very grim topic—the epidemic of narcissism in our culture. I’m doing this to give hope, validation and power to the partners of self-centered people and for all of us to work on this major …
“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” Eleanor Roosevelt, ‘This Is My Story’ 1937 My week was going great until I got my annual work review. I’ve worked at this therapeutic youth center for 20 years as a recreational therapist. I love my job, my peers respect me and I have great …
It’s been a year since I survived a near fatal car crash. Fell asleep at the wheel. It’s a miracle that no one was killed. That wasn’t the biggest miracle to come out of it. Let me explain. I’d always had a competitive and distant relationship with the men at the office. They reminded me …
Nothing tugs at the heartstrings of parents more than knowing that our children are suffering from ways we’ve harmed them. Such awareness may feel unbearable for any of us to endure. Most of us would rather deny the full extent of how we’ve affected our children if we want to live with any sense of …
Staying emotionally connected to your teen is essential both for you and for your adolescent. It may feel impossible at times but it is a crucial relationship task. A deep dark secret of adolescence is that being a teenager is often a lonely time, more than anyone cares to admit. The necessary loss of a …
Most of us don’t think much about what type of person we are. We have a hard enough time attending to the practical details of daily living—staying virus-free, caring for children, paying the bills, having enough food in the house, and knowing what our next project is at home. Few of us would choose having …
“My life was going great until one day at the office this good looking guy, Sam, a computer consultant, came on our floor and I just couldn’t keep my eyes off of him. Co-workers said, “Marty, he’s a nerd. He’s not your type. Leave him alone.” Did I listen to them? No I didn’t. As …
