I’m here to give you permission to not like your mother. If she’s mean. Or worse. I know. I know. It sounds like heresy to say you don’t like your mom, but let’s be honest. Some of you were born to a mother, perhaps an abusive and/or narcissistic mother, who has absolutely earned your contempt.
My grad school friend Lori’s Happiness List, a guest blog post a few weeks back, was so thought-provoking (not to mention, popular), I made my own list. And since my 51st birthday is looming on the horizon—again—I thought this would be a good time to reveal my list of life lessons. Life Lesson #1: Cheaper
Guest post by Lori Livesay When Diane asked me to write something for her blog, I was excited by the opportunity. She asked if I had something lying around that could be polished or updated to become a guest-blog post, but actually, I was hoping the offer would prompt me to write something new. It’s
For years, I had no idea what was wrong with my mother. That she’d been diagnosed with a mental illness: manic-depression (Known today as Bipolar Disorder.). Ashamed of her condition, Mom told no one. My father stayed silent on the topic as well, not clueing my brothers and me in on her condition. No doubt
Has your family ever been slammed with a whole lot of difficulties, all at once? Just when you think things are getting better—maybe even back to normal—some new problem arrives to knock you to your knees. A few years back, our family experienced a number of negative issues: boom, boom, boom. Cancer diagnosis for my
At the end of last year as I drove over the river and through the woods to visit my grown daughter, Brene Brown taught me how to live a whole-hearted life. Because my friend Karen Haring—founder and executive director of Libera, Inc.—recommended more than once that I listen to Brown’s 6-cd audio recording of her
I have a theory on life. Actually, it’s more like a set of rules. I call them my “Joy Rules.” Practice Gratitude Examine Your Life Pursue Your Purpose In my opinion (and experience), if you apply these three principles, life improves. Since it’s the first month of a brand new year, let’s leapfrog over Joy
Confession: I stockpile Facebook statuses. Hey, don’t judge me. My ammo pile of cleverness is for your benefit. My goal always being to educate, inspire, and/or amuse you. There is, however, one status I was too chicken to post: ”Don’t feel sorry for me, but I’m lonely.” From time to time, posts like this appear
On Dec. 2, 2017, I accomplished something awe-mazing. I drove over the New River Gorge Bridge. That may seem like no big deal to you, but, to me, it’s huge. If you know me well, or if you read my post last week, “A Scaredy-cat’s Guide to Travel,” you know I suffer from gephyrophobia, fear
“In this life you will have trouble.” Man, do I believe this statement. Not simply because Jesus said the words, but because I’ve personally experienced trouble. And now that I’ve lived a half a century, time and again I’ve seen bad things happen to good people, people I love. But what if it’s your own
