Opinion

How did you win your parents’ approval and acceptance when you were a child? In order to make Mom or Dad happy, what did you have to do? On the other hand, what did you do that disturbed or distressed them?

Do you sometimes feel lost in life? Perhaps you haven’t progressed enough toward your true life goals. School takes up all your time. Heck, leave your homework to the last day because you’ll be older and therefore wiser. You work 9–5 but feel as though you are going nowhere at all. Have you forgotten to foster gratitude for all the things that have gone right?

Do you know someone who is consumed with his self-worth? I just got back from the center of the universe. Turns out you weren’t there. Uh-oh.

Has anyone ever said, “You’ll understand this when you get older”? What exactly were they talking about? Have you had any awakenings or revelations in your life as you got a tad older? Perhaps you also wonder where all the time went. Wasn’t it just summertime a couple of weeks ago? Now it’s dark at 4 p.m. You know this time of year has no afternoons. It’s morning until 2 p.m., then night.

Sometimes you can literally feel like you’re running on empty. You may feel bogged down by the feelings of those around you. Do you feel drained or possibly even numb at times? We can all get emotionally exhausted, sweet friends.

When was the last time you lost your temper? Did your friend just push some well-known buttons about your body image? Did he yet again make a wisecrack about your mother? Did she slam your career choice yet again?