The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. Luke 6:45 NIV Several years ago, my son fell on his arm while skating. From the outside, his arm looked fine, but his cries of pain told a different story. When the doctor held the x-ray up to the light, even my untrained eyes could see the jagged edge of his small bone sticking out. I can still hear my brave little soldier\’s cry of “Ow-ow-ouch!” when the doctor needed to \’set\’ the bone back into place. They had ushered... Read More

1. If you feel held back, stuck in a rut, blocked from the love and success you want, and you don\’t\’ know why – you are under the spell of what we call The Love Grip. When we\’re too young to know the difference, we unwittingly give our innate love and loyalty to our parents and larger family, culture, neighborhood and church and thereby internalize their all too often limited and negative judgments of who we are. Because we are largely unformed, we readily and without question believe what we are told about our lack of value, our incompetence, and our tiny place in... Read More

WHAT IS PTSD? Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD is one of the anxiety disorders that can be experienced by anyone. It is experienced by almost everyone who has experienced some type of severe psychic or physical trauma. That trauma may have occurred in childhood with symptoms appearing decades after the original traumatic event. Or it may occur during their adult years. Psychic trauma occurs whenever we feel that our very lives are threatened. In some cases, that is exactly what has happened. For example, a near-death experience from a terrible auto accident, a physical... Read More

Author\’s Note: This TRUE story was inspired by my good friend and mentor, Prill Boyle, who truly IS a Cinderella. Ask any psychiatrist worth their weight in Prozac and they\’ll tell you that children can be traumatized at an early age by a parent\’s lack of understanding and their insensitivity. Take Halloween night, for instance. Its one night for Pete\’s sake. It comes ONCE a year and you don\’t get to celebrate it again until the following year…same time, once a year. Are we clear on this? So, one would think that one\’s parents would have understood a... Read More

A GATHERING FOREMPTY NEST WOMEN All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter into another. – Gail Sheehy, PASSAGES (1979) About Natalie Caine Natalie Caine M.A. is the founder of Empty Nest Support Services and http://www.emptynestsupport.com/ , launched in 2001. You can listen to her live interview with Lifetime Radio Network for Women on her website. Natalie has been featured in newspapers and magazines as an expert for empty nesters. She has taught Anticipating the Empty Nest... Read More

Menopause occurs when the levels of estrogen and progesterone become less and menstruation stops completely for over a year. Among the common symptoms of menopause are irregular periods and hot flashes, mood swings, irritability, sleep disturbances, vaginal dryness and urinary tract problems. Menopausal women may also suffer stomach pains and leg cramps and some may suffer more, as compared to others, in terms of sleeplessness. Menopause and Leg Cramps Leg cramp pain during menopause can come on suddenly. It can be a shooting, sharp pain that can disturb your sleep, or wake you up. This pain may... Read More

…by Mary Pearsall Times have really changed. Could you imagine our mothers picking up a dumbbell or doing a set of pushups? It just didn\’t happen back then. A lot of baby boomer women are supplementing their exercise programs with some kind of muscle conditioning – and for good reason. Time and again research has shown that women who maintain a regular moderate strength training program enjoy many and varied health benefits. However many women fear that lifting weights will bulk them up like Arnold, so they avoid this aspect of fitness. The truth is, strength training is one... Read More

…by Julie Clark Robinson  “Be still in silence and listen to your heart. When it speaks to you, arise and go where it brings you.”  –Susan Tamaro, Va\’ Dove Ti Porta il Cuore I think the sound of my own voice has finally gotten to me. Here it is, four years after I sat down to write my book, (ambitiously entitled Live in the Moment), two years after it was published, and countless book signings, speeches and interviews later, I\’m finally going to take my own advice. I\’m off to Italiana! Can I afford it? Nope. Will my husband and kids be able to stay alive... Read More

…by Prill Boyle As a writer who works from home, setting boundaries is an issue I deal with on a daily basis. I\’ve just returned from a month in the Thousand Islands where I\’ve been writing a novel, and what I want most right now is to finish my book. (Every day I don\’t write my heart shrivels; every day I do, it soars.) But since I\’ve been back, I can\’t seem to find the time. When I was on the island, I had no distractions. After waking up each morning, I sat down to write for six or seven hours. But in Connecticut, the diversions are endless. I\’ve... Read More

Recently, while standing in a crowded, noisy hallway, someone asked me THE question: “How can I persuade my aging loved one(s) to willingly do something they don\’t want to do, even though it\’s in their best interest?” As I began to answer, the whole area fell silent and everyone leaned in to hear my answer. I thought I\’d been transported into that old financial advice commercial! Unfortunately, the answer is you can\’t! Sorry, but unless your aging loved one(s) has dementia, they are free to do what they want. But fear not! There is a way to help them want... Read More