Family, Friends & Foes

More grief homework ... Hmmmmmmmmmmmm!

Grief is the toughest, for me, of all the emotional homework Mother Nature and Father Time assigns.  It is in my view harder than jealousy, disappointment and resentment homework all rolled into one! Read more »

I awoke this morning in a peaceful state of mind with an open and grateful heart for how safe, tranquil and abundant my life has finally become. Read more »

When we hold onto relationships, careers and lifestyle choices that in the past have proven emotionally destructive, we remain unable to embrace whole heartedly anything new in the present with love.  If we can't let go of fear, we can't make room for more love.  We remain stuck in a pattern of always attracting the same result. 

It's that old, Resolve it or Repeat it law. Read more »

I created the terms 'emotional shark' and 'emotional dolphin' in 2000 whilst doing some charity work with abused children in my hometown of Brisbane.  It was at one of their Christmas parties that this visual description came to me. These brave little children around age three to five years who were in what I call 'abuse rehab' had grown up in unsafe environments emotionally, physically and sexually around predatory emotional sharks. Many of them had little faith in human beings, and I understood that. I too as a child had their history and did not like or trust adults.  Read more »

What triggers feelings of love and what triggers feelings of fear?  The answer to this question is different for us all. 

It could be a smell, a song, driving through an old neighbourhood, a person's hands, voice inflection, a single word, a favourite food, or a certain time of the year.  We can find that one moment we are feeling fine and all is well, and then all of a sudden the next moment, our heart is full of thunder, we want to cry or just run away. Read more »

"Okay honey, just let me see if I have it in your size" said the sales assistant who looked no older than perhaps 17.  She had crossed the line.  It wasn't just the "honey" comment; it was the whole tone of condescension that was not okay with me.

I touched her gently on the forearm to get her attention.  She turned to look at me and when she made pupil contact, I spoke gently, respectfully and clearly.

"I need to explain to you that you are about to lose a sale."  I paused as she exhaled and looked at me with genuine curiosity. Read more »

“You’re such a nasty person, you have to say such nasty things” she accusingly spat her words down the phone at her daug Read more »

I first heard this term 14 years ago when I started attending drug and alcohol recovery groups to clean up my own life.  So it concerns me when I still see people killing themselves as their ego clings to this belief like mine did.

“No I am better than them; you don’t understand it is different for me”.  The line usually goes something like that and then the victim dialogue begins. Read more »