Sheer Balance

Most people have a sense of what is and isn’t appropriate when it comes to respecting boundaries.  However, we are bound to find individuals who don’t.  These people are abusive…and if we don’t deal with them properly, they will continue to break boundaries time and time again.
As much as we strive for healthy relationships, we [...]

Let’s face it:  All of us have emotional “baggage.”  Each of our “bags” differs from other people’s, but whether or not we like to admit it…we all have it.  “Baggage” makes us who we are.  Without it, many of us wouldn’t have our “quirks,” our endearing qualities or our unique perspectives.  At the same time, [...]

by Brett Blumenthal
Not long ago, I wrote an entry on how powerful it is to smile.  Today, I’m going to discuss how important it is to allow yourself to not smile.  Smiling is great…I’m all for it.  It has a lot of great benefits and makes you feel all warm and fuzzy.  But let’s face it: there [...]

by Brett Blumenthal
Unfortunately, there may be times that smiling can be difficult – when it might not be easy and might feel virtually impossible.  Sometimes we get so caught up in the bad things that we forget that smiling is actuallly an option.  Maybe your boss inappropriately yelled at you…maybe you had a fight with a [...]

Major life traumas such as divorce and the death of a loved one are sources of stress, but so are small irritating daily events: You’re late getting the kids to school. The dishwasher breaks down. You lock your keys in the car. An unexpected bill arrives in the mail. These small doses of stress can [...]