FOOD FOR THOUGHT Our Personal Style of Living As I talk to many different women, I notice that different women have different styles of living. These styles define us both during the working/parenting years and after we have retired and our children have left the nest. Over the years we have heard a lot about…

FOOD FOR THOUGHT An almost universal concern for the women that come to see me is the challenge involved in relating across generational boundaries within the family.  These challenges include relating to young children, adult children, grandchildren, older or elderly parents, and members of the extended family in many different life stages.  The perspective of…

FOOD FOR THOUGHT What is a family? This may sound like a ridiculous question to most people. After all, families are families. The term is self-explanatory . . . or is it? A family is a group of people related by blood and marriage. But the term is multiple-layered with meaning, significance, and expectation. Our…

FOOD FOR THOUGHT We think a great deal about our relationships. We consider and analyze our relationships with family, friends, coworkers, even our casual acquaintances, but we seem to overlook our most important relationship—our relationship with ourselves. We are constantly in a relationship with ourselves whether we realize it or not. But when you don’t…

FOOD FOR THOUGHT Many people create New Year’s resolutions, and these can pertain to many different life areas.  Most common are resolutions having to do with fitness, losing weight, completing unfinished projects, or just being a better human being.  We may write down our resolutions, and even manage to achieve some of them. But over…

Food for Thought Trust is a powerful word and a powerful concept. It underlies every facet of our lives from how we feel about the world to how we feel about our relationships, and ourselves. What does it mean to trust? The dictionary defines trust as “firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength…

Food for Thought Home is a word rich with depth, meaning, and nuance. At its most basic level, we tend to think of “home” as the house in which we grew up, usually having the connotation of permanence or longevity. We also think of the primary place we establish to live in adulthood as home.…

FOOD FOR THOUGHT Life is not simple but it need not be as complicated as we usually make it.  Often, life is simultaneously both simple and complex. For example, the needs of the newborn infant are simple—to be held, loved, changed, fed, and to sleep and to be given a safe place to do all…

Food for Thought Most women view purpose as synonymous with giving, taking care of others, teaching, or mentoring.  If, as women, we are not giving to others, we have no sense of purpose.  This reflects a very narrow definition of purpose, but one that has been inculcated in us since early childhood.  Most of us…

FOOD FOR THOUGHT One of the most common topics that arise in our group discussions and in my one-on-one counseling with older women is the question of life purpose. Some women have experienced a life-long struggle to define their sense of purpose in life, but many others have had a sense of purpose that has…