Candid conversations with my brain

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Relationships

Relationships

Conversations about relationships and their impact on mental health

Communication: Part 5

Communication: Part 5

My husband likes to argue. In fact, he is really good at it. I guess he had lots of practice in front of judges and other lawyers while he practiced law. He seems to have a knack for argument and persuasion. From what I know, he was good at arguing

Communication: Part 3

Communication: Part 3

I am very hard on myself. When something doesn't go as planned, I blame myself. Did I make an honest mistake? It doesn't matter; I'm a horrible person. I have extremely high expectations for myself. When I don't achieve these expectations, I&

Emotions: Part 5

Emotions: Part 5

I just got back from spending a week with my family. We had a great time together kayaking, paddle boarding, swimming, playing in the river, hiking, playing games, and just having fun together. It's so important to make memories with family! Now I am back and ready to

Emotions: Part 4

Emotions: Part 4

If you haven't yet, read Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 of this discussion on emotions. Over the last 12 years of being a mom I have learned that emotions with my children ebb and flow. Some days are better than others. Daily I recognize the need

Emotions: Part 3

Emotions: Part 3

If you haven't yet, read Part 1 and Part 2 of this discussion on emotions. In Part 2 I discussed how using a bridle helps tame, train, and direct a horse to be of great use. Without a bridle the horse might otherwise be hostile and dangerous. Our

Emotions: Part 2

Emotions: Part 2

In my previous post on emotions (read it here if you haven't yet) I discussed my belief that emotions are neither good nor bad, but that learning to control our reactions to emotions is essential to avoiding undesired results. In this post I want to continue with a

Emotions

Emotions

I know I have been MIA for the last couple of weeks. I have been really busy and my posts got put on the back-burner. Sometimes we just have to roll with the punches. Let's talk about emotions. A few years ago I experienced several emotional breakdowns over

Judgmental Speech

Judgmental Speech

Hey, Brain. How are you? Not great. I'm such a failure. Why do you say that? My kids just don't listen. If I was a good mom, my kids would listen. That's why I'm a failure. In some of the first meetings

Meeting People Where They're At

Meeting People Where They're At

Throughout the decades society has held expectations: * Wives should have dinner on the table when their husbands get home from work. * Toddlers should behave well in public at all times. * We should keep our homes spotless. * Women should have perfect bodies. * Children should have perfect grades. * We should be able

Boundaries

Boundaries

A few weeks ago [www.howareyoubrain.com/choices/] I wrote about scenarios that present the chance to make intentional choices. As a kind of follow-up, I wanted to talk about boundaries. All of the scenarios I listed related to my relationship with other people. And more often than not, I