Coping With Difficult Times Archives | Life and Relationships 101

How To Turn Failure Into Success – The Easy Way

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…

How To Avoid Holiday Burnout, FOMO, Ghosting, and Family Dysfunction

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…

When Bad Things Happen to Innocent People

At least two different heinous crimes of violence involving a group of innocent people have recently been reported in the news: one was in a synagogue in Philadelphia and the other was in a country music bar in California. This is just 13 months after the Las Vegas massacre that took the lives of 58 people. Each day seems to bring new reports of violence in your hometown, or in the nation, or overseas. It can be overwhelming to listen to this news and not be consumed with these horrific events of violence. Often, in times like this, we experience…

Pushy People: How To Avoid Getting Pushed Into A Corner

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…

Why Some People Can Look You Straight In The Face And Tell You Lies

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.

The Difference Between Clinical Depression And Just Feeling Depressed

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…

A Not So Merry Christmas? What Happened to My Great Plans?

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…

Life Giving You Lemons? Best Lemonade Recipes Ever!

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…

Dealing With Grief: A Survival Guide

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…

Surviving the Upcoming Holidays: Gulp! The “How To”

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…

Category: Coping With Difficult Times