We all have expectations in regards to how we want to be treated or how we want life to go. Conflict can arise however when those expectations go unspoken or unnamed. Expectations are not bad things, but in today’s culture, both expectations and boundaries can get a bad rep.
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Has caring for someone ever felt like a tidal wave that threatens to overtake you? Ignoring the symptoms of compassion fatigue can lead to frustration, burnout, their own health issues, stress, and anxiety.
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Has caring for someone ever felt like a tidal wave that threatens to overtake you? Ignoring the symptoms of compassion fatigue can lead to frustration, burnout, their own health issues, stress, and anxiety.
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Our whole world has entered into a collective grieving over the COVID-19 pandemic. Since early 2020, people have experienced grief over a wider spectrum of losses, often compounded with multiple losses at the same time:
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We all have expectations in regards to how we want to be treated or how we want life to go. Conflict can arise however when those expectations go unspoken or unnamed. Expectations are not bad things, but in today’s culture, both expectations and boundaries can get a bad rep.
Continue reading
We see the benefits in setting boundaries when it comes to the quality of our air or food or keeping wild animals away from the public, but when it comes to boundaries with parents, spouses, children, or coworkers, it’s easy to miss the role they play in building healthy relationships.
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The dreaded teenage years. Ever wonder how you got here? Suddenly your mostly well-behaved, respectful kid is a landmine of emotions just waiting to explode.
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Ashamed, I avoided eye contact with the teacher and pretended to not pay attention. It was easier to pretend I wasn’t listening than to acknowledge the truth.
I did not want to admit that I couldn’t read as well as my other classmates. I felt behind and stupid. Each time I had to read aloud, my face felt hot and my palms began to sweat. How would I ever be able to read?
Everything changed when one teacher took the time to really help me. She began using a different curriculum and I immediately started to get the hang of reading. She believed I could read, equipped me to do so, and told me I was doing a good job. That teacher’s empowerment made all the difference to my first-grade self.
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I remember the first time I tried lifting weights. I was a kid and my dad had some weights stored in my playroom. I thought lifting weights looked fun. My sister and I asked my dad if we could try out a few bench presses. Despite our objections, my dad removed the stacks of weight from either side. He told us to start with just the bar. We rolled our eyes at his suggestion. Just the bar? Really? That sounded like baby stuff.
Well, to an experienced weightlifter, yes, just a bar is baby stuff. However, to two elementary school girls, it was not baby stuff. We were able to lift the bar…a couple times. A few lifts and we were done. Exhausted. Wiped out. Compared to our dad, we were weak. We wondered how we could ever lift weights like him.
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I mindlessly scrolled through social media at the end of a long day of travel. A stunning picture of my friend caught my eye. I read the caption, excited to see that she seemed to be doing so well.
Then I saw it.
The caption told the story.
She was no longer married.
My heart sank and questions began to flood my mind.
“What happened?”
“How could this happen to them?”
“Is any marriage safe?”
