Are you stuck in negativity? We all have our own versions of negative thinking or feeling – pick your poison: Depression Addiction Anxiety Anger Loneliness Resentment Self-hatred If you find yourself in any of these states for prolonged periods of time, and want some freedom from negativity, consider freeing yourself by delving down and digging [...]

Self-love – treating the self with care and respect – is one sure-fire way to improve serenity and peace of mind. But any time we move toward self-care, we must watch out for that enemy of serenity – self-hate. Not only that, we face a cultural paradigm that values self-sacrifice and caretaking of others. Taking care of [...]

Last week I asked readers what they’d like to hear about. The overwhelming choice: Understanding insanity – where it comes from and how to circumvent it. So what is insanity? We’re not talking the textbook definition here – the state of being seriously mentally ill; madness —Oxford Dictionary Although sometimes it may feel like this! [...]

It doesn’t seem to make sense, but when we desperately want relief from stress and anxiety, the thing to do is dive straight into our emotional pain. It’s so counterintuitive – we’re trying to get rid of pain, why would we jump right into it? Because: Avoiding pain means we get to keep it – [...]

Anyone get this message growing up: “Think of yourself first!”? What, nobody? In fact, most of us learned the very opposite – “How selfish to put yourself before others! Put others’ needs first.” Isn’t putting others before ourselves a selfless act? It seems to make sense, but here’s the problem: When we give before we [...]

When a storm of life passes through, whipping up turbulence around us, we feel no control over our destiny. Things are happening to us, and it seems the best response is to be defensive. Reacting to the storm out of fear, we may lash out to push through it or turn inward to protect ourselves. [...]

Have you ever seen the bizarre commercial that advertises “Head On”? It’s unclear what the product is or does, but it’s insistent upon one thing – you must: Apply directly to the forehead! Presumably, it relieves pain of some sort. And you just need to repeat the treatment. I realized this concept – vague as [...]

Special Notice: This post was originally published  in December 2010 at The Daily Brainstorm, a blogazine compiling the best blog posts on topics including personal growth, simplicity, health, cooking, science and medicine, art, productivity, fitness, blogging, travel, and more. Since the blog archives only the current year, this post on relationships is not available at the site. I republish [...]

When someone in your life has an addiction, the focus is usually on that person. Addictions take many forms, from substance abuse to workaholism and overeating, and the effects on that person are often very obvious. Chaos, conflict, lost jobs, unpaid bills, arrests, jail, hospitalization, institutionalization, even death. Less obvious are the effects on the [...]

Putting ourselves first is the best thing we can do to help others. Wait you say, isn’t that just selfishness? It certainly seems to run counter to what we learn growing up. We’re taught to think of others, consider their feelings, and take care of them, while simultaneously discouraged from doing the same for ourselves. [...]