“There’s something wrong with me.” I’ve heard that sentence from dear friends, resilient clients, and strangers whose conversations I can’t help but overhear as I write in coffee shops. It’s usually...
I’m sharing chips and salsa with a friend on a summer evening. Outside the sky is clear blue, but clouds hang over our conversation. She’s in a difficult season, trying to navigate challenges she’s...
I settle in on a lovely morning, coffee next to me, ready to begin my work for the day. Then my thoughts shift to recent mistakes I’ve made, words I wish I could unsay, things I would do differently...
Who struggles with self-criticism? (Raises hand.) I’ve talked with thousands of women through my work as a writer, counselor, and life coach. One of the most common phrases I hear is, “I don’t know...
Your body is vast, a universe of twenty-eight trillion cells. Your blood flows through sixty thousand miles of vessels. As a single road, it would circle the earth twice. You possess over two...
I’m scrolling through social media and I find myself repeating one phrase, “Look what she did!” I say this as I see women doing good things—leading, creating, connecting, accomplishing, achieving...
In elementary school, I made frequent visits to the nurse’s office. “I have a stomachache,” I’d say. The kind nurse, perhaps knowing what was really going on, would escort me to a mercifully quiet...
I used to confuse insecurity with humility. I believed the lie that feeling bad about myself must somehow be good. I struggled with a fear of accidentally “becoming prideful.” Then I finally decided...
When my granddaughter Eula was learning to walk, her steps were wobbly. She was all exuberance and no coordination. At the time, the laundry room was irresistibly enticing (something I knew she...
I’m curled up on the corner of my couch, laptop in front of me, thoughts swirling in my mind. It’s been one of those days when no matter how hard I tried I still felt like I fell short. Have you...