I wish I’d discovered them sooner. — I’m a psychotherapist. You’d think I’d have mastered relationships before I jumped into this line of work. But it has taken me two marriages pre-psychotherapist career change and countless years of navel-gazing and working with others to figure out what it takes to make a relationship/partnership work. As they say…

Start with managing yourself, not them. — It amazes me how hard we all work to impress our friends and the people we work with. And then we come home with the idea that we shouldn’t have to work as hard to make our partners or kids happy. …

It’s more than just making a vow to be kind. — Only one thing is essential: to behave throughout your life toward the liars and crooks around you with kindness, honesty, and justice…Marcus Aurelius. We all love the idea of kindness. Most of us label it as one of our top values. But in our self-absorbed, selfie world, we’ve learned to…

And get closer to the people you love. — Do you ever wonder how a fight with your partner or best friend started? You began a conversation with good intentions. You wanted to let them know how you felt about something they said or did. But before you knew it, that train jumped the tracks, and you were both…

Earn their trust and become truly helpful by learning to listen rather than trying to fix. — Your child, who you love more than anything else, is experiencing painful feelings. Of course, you want to protect them — make the bad feelings disappear. So you tell them you’ll buy them a puppy. …

Hmmm, is that always true? — Out of everything we hold dear, time may be our most precious thing. Do you want to waste even a little of it on doing everything perfectly at the expense of getting better and better at what matters to you? Practicing psychologist and writer Daniel Gottlieb, in Learning from the…

Start hanging out with people who don’t share your beliefs or lifestyle. — Have you been lamenting the divisiveness in our country? Are you sick and tired of the extremists who place everybody on the ‘other side’ into a bucket labeled Socialist, Nazi, or any label that’s so derogatory (in your own mind) it’s impossible even to have a conversation with them? Or…

First, accept that you’re human. — Were you raised with the idea that perfection is possible? Did they tell you that if you work hard enough — are nice, generous, loving, grateful, and joyous enough — there will be a juicy reward, either in heaven or in creating the life of your dreams right here on…

It’s never too late to change your mind or your perspective. — There is no getting around reality. Reality doesn’t care if you like it or not. Reality is what life hands you on a day-to-day basis. You can argue with reality until the moon turns green and you’re blue in the face, but you will never win that argument. Worldwide pandemics…