Tag: progress
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Self-Discipline ≠ Punishment
Years ago, I horribly injured my foot hiking a local trail. This was a hike I had hiked countless times without issue. And yet, I headed up that slope without stretching and came home barely able to walk. If I had any commonsense, I would have gone to a doctor and taken appropriate measures to…
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It’s the Least Wonderful Time of the Year
Dreadful January. After all the cheery decorations get packed away, the friends and relatives end the revelry and return to their respective homes, and we all stop eating special foods to celebrate every single holiday, we are faced with a sobering reality. With its bills piling up and short daylight hours, January strips us of…
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Incompatible
She looked me up and down. “Are you ready to go fishing?” she asked. “Yes!” I enthusiastically responded. “In THAT?!?” I was much younger than I am now, but I will never forget this conversation. I was wearing a miniskirt and stilettos. I looked dressed up for a night on the town (if your idea…
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24 Changes to Aim for in ‘24
I’ve already established numerous times here that I am a goal-setter, a go-getter, and a minor fretter; but set that last point aside and let’s focus on the positive, shall we? As I reflect on the past year and look forward to next year, I begin to set my sights on the change I would…
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Lessons Learned
This year has been a year of intense learning, not just in a formal education setting as I pursue my Master of Social Work, but also through revelations in the day-to-day as I sat silently, prayed, listened, and reflected. I am a work in progress. I love lifelong learning. So each lesson means the world…
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From Pain to Purpose
She sits across from me – at a sushi restaurant, a coffee shop, in a living room. We tell each other stories – about our kids, our travels, our days. We laugh…until we don’t. Her face and tone change. She opens up about the abuse or the assault years ago – at the hands of…
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Dear Younger Me
I look back on photos of a slimmer, slightly less wrinkled version of myself and I don’t wish I was her all over again. But I do wish I could talk to her. I wish I could sit with her and listen as she unpacked her pain. I wish I could help her make heads…
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The Power to Say No. The Willingness to Say Yes.
One of the most difficult aspects of depression is the lack of motivation or energy to take action on anything, whether routine or adventuresome. And then, there is the anxiety that slams me with overwhelming fear that it will all be a disaster and I’m better off – safer – not leaving my house. This…
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The Girl’s Got Goals
People often seem to have a love/hate relationship with New Year’s resolutions. And why shouldn’t they? Gym people who commit to frequent workouts all year are temporarily displaced for the first month or two of each new year by well-intentioned and starry-eyed folks who have resolved to focus on fitness. For weeks, family & friends…
Wisdom from the Trenches 