In all of our lives there certainly are those times when it is very healthy to live only for ourselves. If we are just about to give birth to a child, if our recovery in a hospital from a life-threatening illness like alcoholism is at stake, or if we are powerless over another family member’s …
Trying to care for a selfish person is like traveling into a black hole looking for love. The more you do it, the more you lose yourself. Eventually you disappear and perish in agony. —Anonymous Nothing pains me more in my mental health practice than witnessing a well-intentioned person trying desperately to be loved by …
“If civilization is to survive, we must cultivate the science of human relationships – the ability of all peoples, of all kinds, to live together, in the same world at peace.” Franklin D. Roosevelt November and December bring a variety of holiday festivities featuring food laden tables shared with family and friends. Hallmark paints a …
Co-dependency. A term that I was unfamiliar with until I actually fell into a co-dependent relationship. I didn’t even know that that was what it was until I emerged on the other side of it. I mean, how can you be co-dependent on another person and lose all parts of yourself? I was familiar with …
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 …
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 …
“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 …
Geez! Some people just don’t know how to be grateful. I told my ex-wife, Laurie, that I’d be over to light her furnace. Laurie’s a klutz with mechanical things and I thought she’d be blow her whole house up if she did it herself. When I came out of the basement with soot all …
In the past eighteen months, everyone has been through an incredibly complex time as our usual ways of doing life and relating to others have changed – very often, radically! As I thought about and lived through these events and experiences, I found myself thinking about two realities – first, our need for places to …
When all is said and done, it’s the time we spend with friends that gives life meaning. —Abraham Lincoln Finding and keeping an authentic friend is hard for all of us. Sometimes a true friend may feel impossible to find. In fact there are no perfect friends out there for us to have. Some people …
