The Overwhelmed Brain

Emotional Intelligence for Critical Thinkers

Practicing non-confrontational ways to honor yourself

Sometimes showing up authentically around certain people feels confrontational. One reason for that may be that you’ve never honored yourself in front of them before, so they may not have ever been exposed to you practicing self-respect or self-compassion.

If you’re ready to start being more authentic and letting other people know what’s acceptable and what’s not, you may have to ease them into the new you instead of dropping it on them like a brick. Some people need time to adapt. 

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What to do when you’re going nowhere

If you’re on a road that you believe is never going to end and never going to get better, what do you do? Should you just accept that’s your lot in life and you should just deal with it?

Or do you take a leap of faith in a direction that leads to the unknown in hopes that life will get better? There is always hope, but sometimes it has to be pursued.

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The risk and reward of standing up for what you know is right

Taking a stand or protesting an injustice in your life isn’t always about being aggressive. Often, it can be a peaceful objection that helps you move toward honoring yourself.

Sometimes you have to take a bigger stand, even at the risk of loss. In this episode, I read an email from someone who didn’t appreciate my comments from the previous “Take a stand” episode I created. I talk about that and suggest a different approach to conflict resolution. [Read more…]

Email grab bag: Purging awkwardness, the perfect partner, lonely and depressed

I read three emails that dive into awkward feelings when interacting with others, deciding whether to settle for someone who doesn’t know what they want in a relationship, and someone who wrote to me saying that they are lonely and depressed.

Lots of variety makes for a packed show. [Read more…]