I am delighted this week to introduce you to my Executive Assistant Amy Masaschi, who has written a courageous piece about navigating her college freshman’s anxiety and depression last year. I’ll follow up next week with statistics every college parent needs to know – plus steps to take if your college student is slipping into an uncharacteristic depression or anxiety. By Amy Masaschi My son’s path to college was every bit as exciting as I had hoped it would be.... Read more
we’ve adapted that original challenge into a special “Election Edition” of the 30-Day Kindness Challenge. We’re calling it Kindness 2024. I’m inviting you to take this Challenge with me, and to help me get the word out. Read more
For Women Only has a big birthday this month, and it feels like a good moment to look back and reflect on all that God has done. I’ll be honest, never in my wildest dreams did I think this book would succeed like it did—and help marriages succeed like they did. Twenty years and 1.7 million copies in 26 languages later, I can say this with certainty: For Women Only tapped raw nerves and real needs in ways that have... Read more
Show of hands, where are the Friends or Seinfeld junkies? You know every re-run. You can quote all the best lines. (“Pivot!”) But do you know what made those shows work? Of course, there was brilliant writing and comedic timing. And the characters helped us recognize our own personality traits and mental health struggles in a non-threatening way. (One college professor even taught a class at Rutgers he dubbed Psy-feld, in which students watched episodes of Seinfeld and discussed the... Read more
his is the final part of a four-part series on how to root out the pattern called “learned helplessness” from our life and relationships. In part 1 and part 2, we explored what learned helplessness is, and what it might look like in our lives. In part 3, we shared the first two (of six) steps for ridding it from our lives. This week, we cover the last four steps. Read more
This is part 3 of a four-part series on how to root out the pattern called “learned helplessness” from our life and relationships. In Part 1 we explored what learned helplessness is, and in Part 2 we used a marriage example to examine what it might look like in our lives. This week and next, we share the six steps to kicking it to the curb in any part of life. If you missed part 1 and part... Read more
This is part 2 of a four-part series on how to root out a sneaky pattern called “learned helplessness” from our life and relationships. In , we described what this dynamic is and is not. In this part 2, we will look at how it tends to work in real life. In parts 3 and 4, we will offer practical steps to address it, and build a sense of resilience instead. I described a (very abusive) 1960’s experiment in which... Read more
Imagine the human mind as a computer screen, with each thought, feeling, or worry as one open window. Now imagine you have a dozen windows open – many thoughts or concerns bouncing around in your mind. You probably want to close a few! But how? In our book, Thriving in Love and Money, Jeff and I share that there are often differences between men and women in how we close open windows – and how quickly. Turns out, if men... Read more
Readers frequently write in to request help and tips for stepfamilies, and so I am honored to bring you a guest blog this week from author and speaker Debbie Alsdorf. Author of Beyond the Brady Bunch, Debbie carefully and honestly leads us into this topic — and I hope the lessons she learned will benefit you (or help you see friends or family in a fresh light). By Debbie Alsdorf As little kids, I don’t suppose any of... Read more
Nothing will shift your perspective more quickly than seeing great need and recognizing the many things you have to be grateful for. Read more
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