A few years ago, I volunteered my time as a crisis counselor for an amazing organization. I worked with people from all ages and walks of life. The work I did gave me an intimate look at how many horrific traumas people have gone through, and different stages of the process they were in while dealing with it. I truly admired their courage to talk about it and release themselves from the burden of carrying it all on their own. It can be so hard to open up to people about the demons you have been fighting.

Today’s quote is, “Be careful who you vent to. A listening ear is also a running mouth.” I think sometimes it’s easy to lose sight of who we should confide in, especially when we feel lonely. According to a study of more than 170,000 people published at the Psychology Bulletin in 2013, the average adult’s network of friends and colleagues have shrunk over the past 3 decades. Countless recent studies have shown that we are lonelier now, than ever before, since the birth of social media – a medium that in theory should make us feel more connected to others.

Today’s quote is, “Some people create their own storms and then they get mad when it rains.” What does that mean? Well…Some people thrive in crazy-making and chaos because it is what feels normal to them. It’s completely maladaptive and no doubt draining to that person as well as those around them. But let’s take a look at the kind of behavior you’ll see if you’re standing in the middle of someone else’s crazy-making storm.

While empathy is essential for developing deep, intimate relationships with others, it is also necessary to know how to balance your own needs and self-care, too. Otherwise, you will fall into a vicious cycle of constantly tending to the needs of others, while failing to take care of your own basic needs.

Today’s quote is “You have to train your mind to be stronger than your emotions or else you'll lose yourself every time.” And when I started writing the post, immediately the basic principles of Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, or DBT for short, came to my mind. These are life skills, that we will get into in a little bit.

If you want to do anything in life, you have to accept that there are going to be times that you will fail and times you will fall down. It is inevitable. If you want to achieve something worthwhile, there is no easy path. There are going to be ups and downs, successes and failures.

Today’s quote over on our website is “The responsibility of love is to keep another’s heart safe.” I saw this quote on Instagram a while ago. I believe it was on an account for Tommy Vext of Bad Wolves. And it has resonated with me for quite some time, because honestly, I think we lose sight of that responsibility we take on when we choose to be in a relationship.

Today we are taking about facing our fears and the daily quote is, “Fear does not stop death, it stops life.” But before we get into it, I want to stress that there is a huge difference between fear and danger. And fear, my friends, is one tricky emotion. Now people often confuse fear with danger. Danger is very real, but fear is an emotional response to something that may or may not be real. Let’s take a look at their specific definitions.