I tell the truth about my history, because it heals me, AND it helps others know they're not alone....

I come from an abusive, alcoholic, rage-filled father, and a codependent, enabling mother....but from the outside, you never would have known.

It was all smoke and mirrors; my parents were still together, we were active in the church, big house, financially well off, my Dad was a charmer, and my Mom was "so nice"... no one could tell that we were living in a landmine.

We walked on eggshells, hyper vigilant, always looking over our shoulders for Dad's rage, or Mom's passive aggressive control.

Obviously, this affected my development....

I became severely codependent like Mom, carried secret rage that would sneak out, like Dad, and I felt broken, weird, hopeless, and damaged in ways that constantly made me feel like an outsider.

I was always guessing at what was "normal"; trying to fit in, without letting it show that I had no idea who I...

There’s a surprising way that you might be abandoning yourself, and you probably don’t even know you’re doing it

It’s called emotional bypassing, and if you've got this habit, it's playing a significant part in why you feel stuck in "meh-ville" of dissatisfaction AND why you find yourself feeling powerless in getting your relationships to change!

Emotional bypassing occurs when we subconsciously switch an emotion we’re not comfortable experiencing, for another more “acceptable” emotion. 

Whether an emotion is “acceptable” or “unacceptable”  will depend on how you were programmed as a child.

For example, if you were criticized as a child for feeling sad, maybe made to feel silly for crying, or worse, threatened for your sadness (“I’ll give you something to cry about!”) You may have become afraid of your own sadness. 

To keep yourself...