Growing Through the Storms
Often, it’s only when our eyes have been washed clear with buckets of tears that we will ever get a handle on the larger vision for ourselves and our place in the world.
Finding Courage to Face Depression
The source of this pain may be rooted in childhood, meaning you’re so accustomed to feeling this way, you may experience anger, fear, and guilt afresh at dredging up these truths.
Acknowledging Your Painful Past
In the city of Carmel, California, there is a famous cypress tree, weathered and gnarled and growing out of solid rock on the edge of the rugged coast. If that cypress could talk, it might complain about the coastal storms that have battered it for so many years,...
How False Guilt Leads to Stress
Guilt is an insidious reaction that contributes to stress. Guilt cries out, “Never enough!” When you feel guilty or ashamed, or you blame yourself for not being or doing all you think you’re supposed to be, you can never find peace.
How Do You Handle Unresolved Anger?
When the world is against you, when people are out to get you, when events are against you, you live in a state of siege. A siege mentality contributes to the state of Red Alert. Unresolved anger is a breeding ground for stress
Emotional Abuse: Showing Hostility and Making Threats
Adults who take out their anger on children rarely are truthful about the source of that anger and hostility. Some shift the blame unfairly to their punching bag of choice, placing the burden of their actions, as well as the reasons for the actions, on the child.
What is Childhood Abuse?
Childhood abuse is multilayered. Neglect and physical and sexual abuse are always accompanied by devastating emotional damage. This childhood abuse can appear as aggressive actions of harm as well as passive failures to act.
Learning How to Forgive Your Parents As a Teenager
Have you ever been so mad at someone (it doesn’t have to be a parent) that it’s all you could think about? Every time you were around that person, you kept thinking about how mad you were. You didn’t want to be around that person.
Connecting with Your Personal Story
I’d like you to take the time to really think about, and evaluate, the significant relationships in your life. These may be with parents, spouses, siblings, children, mentors, or extended family.
Controlling the Volume on Negative Messages
Negative messages need to be turned up, but only so you can evaluate them; they are not meant to be cranked up for the rest of your life. The goal of turning up the volume of negative thoughts is so you an really hear what they’re saying and learn to put those messages in their proper context.
Stepping out of Blame Mode in Emotional Abuse
When dealing with your emotional abuse, it may be easy to view things with tunnel vision. All you may see is the pain and damage of the abuse. You may not see some of the reasons behind it. Nothing can explain it away.
Reality Check: Are You Living an Emotionally Healthy Life?
Are you getting on with your life with courage and enthusiasm, knowing that somehow you will fulfill your dreams, or have you all but thrown in the towel? Your answers reflect how you see yourself today but they also may suggest that you are still believing and living out too many of the lies your life script may have been feeding you.