#boundaries

#boundaries

I have a client in her 40s who has just finalized her divorce from her husband. They had met at the soccer field where they both played adult league recreational soccer, and their friendship grew into a marriage proposal and then a union that lasted almost 20 years. She shared that the divorce was a mutual decision that wasn't based on hostility in the relationship, just the changes they'd experienced as they matured.

For more than a decade, I managed the national advertising program for a large life insurance company. During that time, I had an odd secret desire. I wanted to manage national advertising for a coffee company. Why? Because I had already made up the tagline for my imaginary campaign: "The fuel of business." The corporation I worked for (in real life, not my imagination) had a huge headquarters with an excellent cafeteria, with its main attraction being a vast row of gleaming silver coffee machines.

Have you ever felt like your brain was one of those viral egg experiments, cracked open and sizzling on a bare sidewalk that was truly, much too hot? You may have been experiencing signs of burnout (and dehydration). As an introverted professional, I've been there as well, many times in my career. Over the years, I've developed healthy reflective coping methods to recharge my batteries and prevent (or at least combat) that intense feeling of overwhelm.

The holiday season can stir up a complex blend of excitement and dread, especially for people in eating disorder recovery. Food-centered gatherings, shifting routines, unsolicited comments about bodies, and long-standing family dynamics can activate anxiety even when your recovery feels steady. Being anxious does not mean you are failing. It means you are human. Recovery is hard work on an ordinary day. It takes effort, attention, and support even when life is calm.

Nobody warned me about the awkward phase with parents. For me, it was the period right after college that included landing my first important, non-internship job, taking control of my finances, and eventually moving out. I was a full-fledged adult - by society's standards. At work, I fit the bill. I was patient, poised, and responsible, always communicating respectfully, pulling my own weight, and holding myself accountable for mistakes.

Something general and meaningless can help divert small talk such as this. Oh, not sure or Enjoying it, I hope or This and that. These are empty-calorie phrases that keep the ball in the air without forcing you to divulge anything you don't want to divulge. It's also helpful to keep the context of these questions in mind. These people aren't prying. As you said, they're trained to make small talk so that customers feel comfortable. Depersonalizing the ask can help.

Unmatch, unswipe, un-whatever-you-need-to-do. Yes, things happen; days get unmanageable; kids have minor crises. But the upside of being in this age where we're perpetually reachable at all hours is that when something unexpected happens, we can communicate about it. You're connected to this man through three platforms now text, the old app, and the new app. And yet he couldn't find a way to say the simplest thing on the day of the coffee: I'm not going to make it. I'm sorry for keeping you.

I took my 5-year-old daughter to the neighborhood park today. Invited a friend and his girls, ages 6 and 2. Usually our kids play very well together. At the park we ran into a girl who we've played with before. Let's call her Denise. She's 10 and comes to the park by herself. We're not sure where she lives, but it must be within walking distance. But that's not my only problem with her.

When Maia takes Tallulah out for coffee, she can barely say, "I want to talk to you about your career," before making fun of herself. Then, as she tries to launch into a pitch for "getting into the health and fitness space," her first task instead becomes keeping Tallulah from getting arrested. When athleisure blonde Paulena (Annalisa Cochrane) looks across the coffee shop and recognizes Tallulah, she makes a huge scene asking for her Balenciaga bag back.

When we talk about leadership, the focus is almost always on what you do. Communication. Influence. Strategic thinking. Decision-making. Performance.But the foundation that holds all of those things together, and that determines how well you can actually show up for them, is often overlooked: Your energy.We see this every day in our coaching and Women Rising programs. Brilliant, capable women who know what's required of them but are too depleted to consistently deliver at the level they expect of themselves.

When I was researching and writing my new book, I knew that the focus would be on identifying ways to parent adult children that results in more harmonious and less stressful contact. But the farther I got into it, interviewing people and reading the research, the more I realized that every decade has its unique challenges and that I needed to fine tune how we communicate with our adult offspring based on their current stage in life.

What does it mean to show up for yourself? Two people in the same situation showed up for themselves in different ways. Life can be fast, messy, and difficult. We have roles, responsibilities, relationships, and stuff getting in the way of what we need to do for ourselves. Showing up for yourself means to do what you need to do to honor your authentic self without judgment.

The holiday season can be stressful for many reasons. For those who struggle with their family or certain family members, this time of the year can be especially anxiety-provoking due to increased expectations for family togetherness. One of the challenges of being around family is that they can trigger many past hurts in us, making it difficult to manage these strong emotions.

Forgiveness is often offered as a powerful solution, as an agent to not only help you heal from painful events but also allow you to move forward. The general idea is that holding onto anger can make you bitter and hold you back from healing from harm that someone has done to you. But the problem is that there are several serious complications when we try to use forgiveness as a solution.

In a TikTok with more than 248K likes as of this writing, creator Davide De Pierro discusses how one of his dating rules is that his female partner shouldn't make new male friends. She's allowed to have male friends... as long as they met before the relationship started. Making new ones while committed? Not allowed. Many of us know the feeling: a friend drifting away because their partner isn't comfortable, or trying to chat with someone platonically, only to be reminded, "I'm taken."

Often, these expectations are unspoken. A parent might have spent years believing you'd 'step in one day,' even if that was never discussed. When you finally say you can't, guilt and fear can flood in, but honesty is an act of love, too. There is no point offering something you cannot emotionally or financially afford, she added. So, try to stay clear-sighted and precise about what you're really able to offer - even if that doesn't feel like much.

My neighbor is 80. She's known me since I was 13. Her husband died 10 or so years ago. She's my political opposite. All she does all day is stay inside her house (even when it's sunny) and watch TV news. I try to be nice to her because she's alone and probably depressed, but sometimes I want to curse her to high heaven. I borrowed $40 from her and told her I'd give it back the next day.