When You Realize You’ve Outgrown a Friendship
“Sometimes growth doesn’t look like becoming more—it looks like leaving behind what no longer fits.” For a long time, I believed that outgrowing a friendship meant I had failed at…
I Stopped Asking “Why Me?” and Started Asking “What Now?”
“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response.” ~Viktor Frankl For a long time, my first response to difficulty was…
Moral Injury: When the People Meant to Protect You Fail
“Trauma is not what happens to you, but what happens inside you as a result of what happens to you.” ~Dr. Gabor Maté Most people think trauma comes from what…
How I Found Focus and Presence When Meditation Didn’t Work
“Meditation is a way of being, not a technique.” ~Jon Kabat-Zinn I didn’t think I was someone who “couldn’t meditate.” I had read the books. I understood the benefits. I…
I Stopped Trying to Be Chosen and Finally Found Love
“You can’t perform your way into being loved. You can only reveal yourself and trust that the right person will love what they find.” Finding the unmarked door, I stepped…
Need a Break from Everything?
I think it’s probably fair to say that most of us are feeling overwhelmed right now. We’re all dealing with a lot. Work stress. Family responsibilities. Relationship struggles. Health challenges.…
What I Ask Myself Now Instead of “What’s Wrong with Me?”
“With self-compassion, we give ourselves the same kindness and care we’d give to a good friend.” ~Kristin Neff For a long time, I carried a question with me that I…
Why Letting Myself Fall Apart Set Me Free
“Ironically enough, when you make peace with the fact that the purpose of life is not happiness but rather experience and growth, happiness comes as a natural byproduct. When you…
When “Better” Becomes a Trap: How I Learned to Hope Without Clinging
“You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.” ~Buddha For most of my life, hoping for something better wasn’t a problem. It was…
What It Cost Me to Always Be the Easy One
“When you say yes to others, make sure you are not saying no to yourself.” ~Paulo Coelho I grew up as the first-born daughter—the responsible one, the helper, the one…