Category: Personal Growth

A Journey Worth Taking

Brene Brown is a shame researcher who opines: “If you put shame in a petri dish and douse it with secrecy, silence, and judgment, shame grows exponentially.” And it can be debilitating. The main issue with shame is the feeling that there is something wrong with me. I’m a failure is another belief that can … Continue reading “A Journey Worth Taking”

Healthy Boundaries in Relationships

One of my earliest memories of someone setting a healthy boundary was when I was around 13 years old and my mother’s friend had stopped by to say hello. She was telling my mother that her son had just recently bought a car from his dad after saving for some time. In my naivete and … Continue reading “Healthy Boundaries in Relationships”

How to Cope with Failure

Most of us do not want to have this word in our vocabulary. Failure means defeat! However, if we look at the most successful people in history we find that they had a great deal of failure, but it did not deter them from their goals for the future. We can look at Michael Jordan, … Continue reading “How to Cope with Failure”

Courage

A client and I were recently discussing what courage really is. Finding herself at a crossroads in life, she found that she was scared to death to make a decision about what to do next. She desperately wished she could muster up the courage to move forward. She didn’t feel fulfilled in her current job … Continue reading “Courage”

Spring Cleaning

There is something about the spring season that feels fresh and new. Perhaps it’s the pruned trees with new buds of flowers beginning to blossom. Maybe it is the feeling of warmth as the sun shines on my skin and the cold days of winter become a memory. One thing I think about at this … Continue reading “Spring Cleaning”

3 Steps to Positive Thinking

In my last blog I discussed the connection between our thoughts, emotions and actions. Now I’d like to focus on how we can alter our thoughts from a negative perspective to a positive one. Making such a change takes time and commitment. Over time our thoughts become so automatic that in order to switch from … Continue reading “3 Steps to Positive Thinking”

Controlling Anger Before it Controls You

Have you found yourself in a place where you have lost all sense of self-control? There are two types of anger and one may surprise you. 1) Anger is a human emotion that all of us experience at one time or another and can be “healthy” when matched with the appropriate circumstance and outlet. 2) … Continue reading “Controlling Anger Before it Controls You”

How Do My Thoughts Impact My Life?

So many times we are sitting on the back end of a decision wondering how we got there. Sometimes it is a pretty benign choice like eating that cheeseburger when you swore you would eat better. Other times those decisions have pretty big consequences, perhaps flirting with a married coworker. To understand how our thoughts … Continue reading “How Do My Thoughts Impact My Life?”

Ever Green

As I enter the Christmas season, I’m once again struck by the memories that have accumulated over the years. This is my 67th Christmas and as I think back, I have memories of at least 62 of them. Every year the time of Christmas was inaugurated in our home by the Christmas tree. That tree … Continue reading “Ever Green”

Friendship

“Better is open rebuke than hidden love. Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.” Proverbs 27:5,6 We’re doing a series on friendship at our church and my good friend Zach Van Dyke is doing an excellent job of taking us through what the essence of friendship really looks like. So, … Continue reading “Friendship”