Dealing with Grief and Fears

As I drive the hour to see her, memories and feelings flood the spaces of my mind. I have 63 years of memories. She’s my younger sister, and three years ago she was diagnosed with Early Onset Alzheimer’s Disease…

Do you want to feel empowered? Energetic? Self-confident? One way to do that is by trying new things and confronting your fears. When you step outside your comfort zone and challenge yourself…

Loss is something every one of us carries. By the time we reach our 60s and beyond, we’ve often lived through many forms of loss…

Some seasons arrive quietly and undo us.
This November has been one of those months for me. At the beginning of the month, I lost a long-term friend unexpectedly. My 93-year-old mom, who has been slowly disappearing into Alzheimer’s for four years…

By the time you reach 60, you’ve buried people you love. Maybe your best friend from college. Maybe siblings, parents, the person you thought you’d grow old with. And with those losses often comes something harder to name: a deep loneliness, even when you’re surrounded by family…

Several years ago, I was on the edge of despair. I was obsessed with anxious thoughts about a distressing family situation. I was drowning in worry and fear. My thinking was dominated by awful “what if’s” about the future. It was crushing me! I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t eat. I was miserable…

Depression, according to the DSM-IV major depressive disorders, is diagnosed when an individual experiences at least five of the following symptoms for most of the day, nearly every day, for at least two weeks: Depressed mood or loss of interest or pleasure in activities…

When we have lost a partner, parent, child, or friend, grief overwhelms us so much that it is hard to make the simplest of decisions. For some, busying ourselves with the practical things that need to happen when a loved one has passed…

By the time we reach our 60s, we have known loss in many forms. That makes us especially attuned to the pain of others. When we hear about children trafficked into labor, women exploited in brothels, or families torn apart by poverty and migration, something in us aches. We recognize…

I was visiting in the UK, traveling by train between Manchester and Shrewsbury en route to Wales. Seated in one of those foursome seats with a table between, I shared conversation with two women traveling from different locations in England…