Category: Coping With Difficult Times

Defining “failure” is an individual choice we all have. It can define us or we learn from it. Webster’s Dictionary defines “failure” as “ failing to perform a duty or expected action.” Or “ lack of success”, and finally “a falling short: a deficiency”. Is it a failure if we are trying to do something we don’t enjoy? Or if we are experimenting and we do not reach our original goal? Would Albert Einstein or Thomas Edison see themselves as a failure? Or would they see their experiments as falling short of their end goal which they would one day…

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How will you avoid Holiday Burnout this year? Some people travel to a faraway island. Others fear missing out on “the best” party of the year, or worse yet, not being invited! Still, others will hibernate and not answer their phone. This year, make sure your holiday experience comes from what you want, not what you need to avoid. Holidays are a tough time and many people suffer holiday burnout. For some, it is about the family dysfunction that rears its ugly head each year. For others, it’s about money and avoiding the obligation to buy a lot of gifts. And…

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Pushy People seem to push you into a corner to get what they want. They are relentless and have no regard for your feelings until they get exactly what they want. Pushy People “appear” to be oblivious to the responses that do not fit their own agenda or desire. Regardless of what you say or try to defend or explain, they always have a “comeback” response to your answers or requests. Pushy People seem to “logically” defend their position, but it always seems to benefit them more than you. I call them “CORNER PEOPLE” because they seem to back people…

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People who lie want to avoid responsibility for something negative or they value their feelings more than yours. They will justify their lies with various excuses. This article examines the excuses and their effect on you, the recipient of their lies. Click HERE for: Some excuses that liars make How to tell if they will always lie How to handle a habitual liar This article was originally published on YourTango.com where I am now an Expert Contributor. Click the image below to see my bio and other articles on YourTango.

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Often clients will ask me “Sometimes I feel a lack of energy or I just want to be alone. Can this be depression?” Clinical Depression is very different from occasional depressed feelings. We will talk about the variety of possible signs and symptoms of both Clinical Depression and general sadness, as well as what you can do if you experience them over time. Non-Medical Feelings of Depression: We all go through some days of feeling low, or sad, or wanting solitude, or just wanting to go back to bed for the day. Sometimes several different things do not go well…

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I’m in danger of having a Not So Merry Christmas this year. I traditionally have various parts of my family join me as they can for Christmas Eve dinner, Christmas breakfast, and an afternoon movie. Then I host a wonderful Christmas dinner for the entire family. This extended celebration allows us to reconnect as both a family and as individuals. Sound good? I thought so. This has been our tradition for many years. But evidently not this year! I came back from a conference with the full blown flu. I am taking medication and getting better every day, but plans…

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When you feel life is giving you lemons you have a choice to make: you can accept your lemons or you can make lemonade. This means make it work for you. It may not be exactly how you want it, but it will be better than feeling like a victim and focusing on what is so unfair to you. We can’t control everything around us, but we can control how we experience a situation. Make it Work for You!!! Examples of Life Lemons: Being passed up for a promotion. Choices: Quit Begin looking for another job while you continue to…

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Grief is a life event that we all face at one time or another. Some of us have had much more than our share of it. We cannot avoid grief, but we can engage in a process to work toward feeling better. Some loss is much harder to deal with than other losses. Our unconscious part of the brain does not know the difference between one loss and another. So when a new loss is experienced, even a minor loss, it can bring up all the other losses that affected us previously, even without realizing it. With a large, unspeakable…

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Wow! The holidays are here again! For some, this period is filled with time pressures, money issues, over committing and dealing with FAMILY DYNAMICS and the expectations of others. How do you deal with these vexing issues? The answer is in your Core, or Gut Feeling. You need to start from a grounded place inside you and then move on from there. [Click HERE to see my previous article on listening to your Core] Ask yourself: What would you really like to do? What stops you from doing that? Money? Family dynamics? Logistics? Breaking tradition? What consequences will result if…

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