The Peanut Gallery

“The problem is my friends and family don’t like him.”  That is how I started a recent conversation with a client.  Honestly, that is how I’ve started many conversations with clients.  Here’s the rub, that really is a problem. Now, I am all for independence and free thinking.  I am always one to march to the beat of your own personal drummer.  However, if your friends and family don’t like your beloved, that is quite likely a serious red flag.  I know in my own personal life, I dated more then one guy who was not well liked by my loved ones.  Heck, I married one.   The reasons were varied, ranging from he’s just plain lazy to outright dangerous, but the over-riding theme was always the same.  This guy isn’t good for you and you can do...

How to Eliminate Abuse

I recently had a conversation with a woman who was seriously contemplating the somewhat philosophical topic of how to 100% eliminate abuse from our society. She and I didn’t see eye to eye on this subject. However, it was a great conversation none the less. Now let me preface this topic by saying a couple of things. First I would like to define abuse as any act that is intended to harm emotionally, mentally, or physically. Secondly, I do not believe this is a gender issue. Some of my male readers occasionally say to me that I am unfair to the male species. I want to state for the record that I have a family member who was a victim of a domestic violence homicide, and his name was Uncle Duane. So, I don’t think abuse is a one way street. I...