The Empty Chair at the Holiday Table
Getting ready for the first Thanksgiving after David died was very, very hard. The loss of my husband’s brother and my best friend was still new and raw. How would…
Holiday Coping
How to Keep New Year’s Resolutions: 5 Tips
Why bother to make resolutions and then feel disappointed or guilty for breaking them? Do you get excited and resolve to change, but within days or weeks lose interest and…
New Year’s Resolutions: Good Intentions or Real Commitment?
Now is the accepted time to make your annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual. ~ Mark Twain The quotation is attributed to…
The Valentine’s Day Fray
I find human behavior fascinating. For example, I have a friend who, for 355 days of the year, is happily single. Oh, sure, she dates from time to time, but…
Alone During the Holidays? Join the Crowd
You know the scene. It looks so warm and cozy and loving. The large, smiling family is gathered around an exquisitely laid-out table, brimming with beautifully prepared food. All of…
The Pain of Losing Your Faith
Our faith — whether a religious conviction, a commitment to human rights, or another set of deeply-held beliefs — informs many of our life choices. So what happens when we…
Helpful Hints for Navigating the Holidays
The holidays are upon us once again, so I thought this would be an ideal time to review some of the common problems people experience during the holidays as well…
The Christmas “Not To-Do” List
‘Tis the season for list-making: Lists of gifts to buy. Lists of cards to send. Lists of people to see and things to do. It can be overwhelming. It can…
A New Year’s Resolution for Generosity
Isn’t it wonderful? Every January 1, we get to have a fresh start. Ring out the old. Ring in the new. We can change something significant about our lives. New…
The Ghosts of Holidays Past
An adult daughter searches for the joy in the season, despite memories of distressing family scenes. I love the holidays. I really do. Give me cold weather outdoors, a crackling…
Coping with Being Alone for the Holidays
The holiday season is a time of tradition, and traditions have a funny way of becoming expectations — like getting lots of stocking stuffers and spending days on end with…
Rx for Mental Health: Send Holiday Cards!
It’s easy to get cynical about holiday cards. There certainly is a lot of pressure to send them for all the wrong reasons: Because the person sent one to us….
10 Tips for Surviving Thanksgiving with the Dysfunctional Family
For some families, holidays are just another excuse to get together to eat good food and to have a good time. They’re not looking for articles like this one because…
‘Tis the Season to Regress
What is it that makes perfectly reasonable adults start to act like teenagers as soon as they hit their parents’ front door? You know how it goes: The oldest starts…
Rethink Those Failed New Year’s Resolutions
It’s not even the middle of January and those New Year’s resolutions are already history. You’ve fallen off the diet, started smoking again or given up on the exercise routine….