Do you find yourself spending time around people who don’t seem to get what you have to offer? Are you always on the defense, trying to prove yourself to this person? Does that type of incredulity make you question your own worth? If the answer is yes, it might...
Coping mechanisms are behaviors and cognitive efforts that help manage or reduce stressors in life. Modern literature would identify two types of coping styles. The first is a problem-solving style of coping. This is a mental approach to controlling the outcome in order to lower stress. An example might...
A construct is a system of ideas containing various conceptual elements. A construct is more subjective than based completely on evidence. We develop our own constructs to help see how this crazy world works. In doing so, we make sense out of our experiences. Intuition uses a construct the...
There’s nothing like the holidays if you want a front-row seat to witness a good old-fashioned grudge. My mother once ‘borrowed’ some shoes from her sister while she was out. They never spoke again. In their later years, when my mother went to her house to patch things up,...
Like many Americans, we have a Thanksgiving dinner with family and friends. But there is one person who is notoriously late. During each holiday, we found ourselves letting the meal get cold. Waiting on one person and their family became a pattern. The fix was to tell them the...
Have you ever been triggered by someone or something in a way that mystified you? After all that grueling spiritual work, it seems like you accomplished nothing! (tee hee) What is in our system that is so easily provoked by the experiences of life? The answer is in the...
The polarized mind describes thought processes involving an absolute point of view. In the clutches of an unwavering belief, the mind becomes burdened by rigidity. Actions appear reckless, hateful, and vengeful. Such a state of mental conflict can disturb the otherwise peaceful vibe. Ideology can used to create polarization...
It’s that time of year! Does it seem creepy to dream about and converse with someone who is deceased? What about nightly dreams of someone you barely know? Do you dream about your ex or someone you’re dating? There could be some answers to this type of puzzling experience....
After a flooding rain uncovered a large swath of fossils near Lake Buchanan, Beckie and I toured the site with a guide. As we searched the ground, the volume of fossilized material was astounding. From dinosaur footprints to zooplankton, the rain uncovered it all. As we wandered through the...
We all have a part of us that acts to guard our mind. The mind guard’s job is to filter through information to control its input. It may seem like the focus is on a solution. But the filter acts to limit the number of possibilities. This is sometimes...
