Posts Tagged ‘avoidance’

When They Stop Listening

Sunday, January 24th, 2010

Apart from outright physical and emotional abuse, I believe that many (if not all) relationships “on the rocks” could be healed under the right circumstances. From my perspective, the fact that this healing so often fails to take place could be an indication that one or both of the partners have stopped listening. Additionally, ceasing to listen indicates a spiritual problem.

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Nostalgia, the Enemy of Hope

Sunday, December 20th, 2009

Nostalgia the drug, when taken in too large a dose, can cause either a compulsive longing (when a return to the “good old days” becomes our fixation) or a sense of seething indignation (when we imagine the indignities and deprivations we once suffered), or both. When nostalgia in either of these forms becomes a way of life, particularly during the midlife transition, it can effectively lock the future in a stranglehold from which it cannot escape.

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You’re Part of a Massive Cover-up!

Monday, November 30th, 2009

In most cultures like ours, the show of emotion can be taken by others as well as ourselves as a sign of weakness or being out of control. For many reasons, emotions are suspect, and therefore uncomfortable. Rather than identify them, face them and express them openly, we find it easier to medicate them whenever possible.

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Midlife Narcotic Relationships

Sunday, November 22nd, 2009

Certainly, illicit relationships (going out on your partner) can happen at any time of life. When they do, I believe that they’re always narcotic relationships.

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The Heartbreak of Midlife Addiction

Sunday, September 6th, 2009

Nobody sets out to ruin his or her life; that outcome only results from a steady stream of small, seemingly insignificant poor choices that eventually lead to a bad end. We call this an error cascade: when a series of small, almost unnoticeable missteps conclude in catastrophic results. For the person entering the midlife transition, it most often begins with the mistaken belief that he or she is ‘going downhill’ and that somehow the process is reversible.

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