A while back, I posted a picture on Facebook, and many friends commented on it, saying nice things that had me blushing. However, one comment, in particular, caught my attention because all it said was, “The smile…” I responded, “Well, it’s cute, isn’t it? ;-)” Interestingly, the commenter interpreted my…

Keeping the heart and mind in balance can be challenging since the heart is emotional and the mind is rational. The tendency to identify more strongly with one over the other can cause tension within us. — We’ve all been there. You know what I’m talking about. We start the day with the best of intentions, and then before we know it, we’re on the verge of shutting down. The pressure of our lives gets to us, and we suddenly have a case of the blues.

There is no explanation for how it works, but somehow it does — The ends of a straight line do not meet, As are North and South opposites, Never in-between, they are two extremes, But I am me, and I am my polar opposite. A hopeless romantic who can’t stand love, I am politely rude, neither good nor bad, A logical empath describes me best, I…

While physical pain is easy to understand, emotional pain can be much trickier. It is hard to define, hard to pinpoint the source and you never really know what to expect. — What is emotional pain? Emotional pain is a feeling of hurt, anguish, or sorrow. It can come from many different sources. An example would be the death of a loved one leaving you lost and lonely. Emotional pain is also caused by our thoughts and feelings. Guilt can come from your own sense of…

Not all traumatic childhood experiences lead to adult trauma. — Childhood trauma can vary in severity, and in some cases, take years to manifest itself as trauma in adults. This is because children don’t necessarily have the tools or maturity to process what has happened to them and don’t know how to deal with the negative emotions that surface over…

Every one of us uses defense mechanisms to protect ourselves. We may not think about these defense mechanisms, but knowing them helps us better understand how we function and why we act the way we do. — What are defense mechanisms? Defense mechanisms are unconscious psychological habits that we use to protect ourselves from anxiety. They are not necessarily bad or unhealthy, but they can stop us from adapting to new or difficult situations.

Life is a paradox. It’s about the small things and it’s about the big picture. Life is a combination of tragedy and comedy, of joy and sadness, of success and failure. It’s about the reality that you can’t always get what you want, when you want it, and how you…

I have always been mindful of the fact that there can be no love without loss and there can be no grief without mourning. The power of love is what triggers feelings of loss and grief. You may have noticed that people use the words “grieving” and “mourning” interchangeably. …