How do we encourage our children to be who they truly are? Childhood We are told growing up that our marks count, the teams we are in count, the friends we have count, the clubs we join count, the memberships we are in count, the schools we go to count. At home, we are told what to do by our parents. At school, we are told what to do by our teachers. In clubs, teams, or memberships, we are told what to do by the leaders or organizers. What is missing? Us!!! When did WE get

Self-doubt. We are ourselves and it isn’t enough. In fact, it is too much for some people. THEY decide that we are too much and it feels like rejection, leading to what? Self-doubt, questionning who we are and what we are doing .

I won a million dollars! Ok, ok, you are right, I didn’t win a million dollars, but how many times in our lives do we doubt winning other opportunities in our lives and limit ourselves? I won’t get that job. I am not smart enough. I am not good at sports. I am not pretty enough. I am ugly. I can’t do that. I will never get married. I will never have money. Sound familiar? We all have limiting beliefs, and those beliefs stop us fr

There will be days of disappointment. I can promise you that, unfortunately. It is part of life. We don’t always get what we want, as the song says. When we don’t, what happens? What do we do, then? Do we wallow in misery, or do we make the choice, to brush ourselves off, pick ourselves up and make the choice to be happy and grateful?

I think I love you. No, I don’t even like you. Wait...I think I hate you. Well, I loved you, yesterday. Now, I am not sure. Last week, I barely liked you. Tomorrow, who knows. You get the idea. Do your feelings make you feel a little crazy, sometimes? Do your feelings make you question yourself, who you are and what you are doing? Haven’t we all? And we are not even talking about the object of your affection. That can happen over the outfit you are trying to decide

We create our lives with our thoughts, whether they are negative or positive. Our actions follow our thoughts. If we believe we can do what we desire to do, we can. In turn, if we believe we can’t do something, we won’t. Our thoughts, beliefs, and even words have incredible power to create the life that we desire.

The chaos will subside. It always does. The negative feelings will change into positive ones. Your emotions will calm. You are powerful when you choose to be.

You can overcome obstacles. Even with obstacles and challenges, you can persevere. I grew up on welfare and we did not have many books in our home. In my family, we were not read to by our parents, who may not have understood the importance of reading to children. Along with other factors, this may have led to me being behind in school and attending a special education class for speech assistance.

When our world crashes.Fear.  We have all experienced it, that feeling of pain and overwhelm when it feels like our world has come down around us.   I remember the feeling when I got a letter from the taxation center.  I was in trouble for not reporting babysitting money. Babysitting money?  We have to claim that? I was young. I had no idea.  It was like a dark cloud fell down from the sky and engulfed me.  You know the musical score in horror movies?  That was playing in the

Our young people are looking outside themselves for direction and validation, the last place they should be looking. They are dressing to fit in, doing the same things as the other kids, looking at their friends, classmates, celebrities, and social media influencers to find out who they are and who they think they want to be.

As a child, my home was filled with poverty and abuse. While I understood now that both of my parents had a mental illness, at the time it was devastating. I initially had good self-esteem as a young child, but eventually after hearing negative things over and over, and being physically and emotionally abused, my positive self-esteem was destroyed. I didn’t think I had anything to offer the world. However, I wanted to work with children and teenagers who struggled through