I love Thanksgiving. I love the excitement of the people I love walking through the front door. Yes, I tolerate the ones that punch my buttons. I know I shouldn’t say that, after all, it is THANKSGIVING, and yet we all deal with those challenges, don’t we? What I am not dealing with this week
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1. When I am going through a transition, self-talk steps in. “Natalie, how are you doing? No really, Natalie, how are you doing? What do you need today? Can someone help you or do you think you can give that need to yourself?” I just feel better when I check in with myself during the
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Who doesn’t fall in tears and laughter about their life? Transitions bring reflections. Nothing lasts forever and that includes friendships. Differences pop up with partners, friends, parents, children, siblings, colleagues. When people share their loss of friends and their want to lose them, they feel embarrassed. Embarrassed like a divorce. They feel they failed because
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1. You never call. Shift that to, I would love to get an email, text, or call from you even it is short. I know you are busy. 2. You always wait to the last minute. Judgment distances us from those we love. They know they procrastinate. Shift to; you know your style of getting
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Whether you are on your way to emptying your nest or already sitting in it, the role you lived as parent shifts. Who are you beyond mother? Who are you beyond father? When you sit with others who are on a similar journey, you feel a bonding, a clan, a place to be right where
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No matter if you are single, married, retiring, dealing with loss, health challenges, or seeking new inspiration or work, transitions ask you to go within. My life started early with changes and I think that seeded my passion for teaching and supporting those traveling the unknown. Tip for today:Ask yourself daily, “What am I feeling?
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Married, single, career or stay at home parent, change brings vulnerability. Karen called my office weeping, “I dropped my son off at his dorm and sobbed. I sobbed right there in front of him. I am not a crier.” I don’t know where we got the idea that we can predict and control our sadness.
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Parents ask me what I do for fun since they are gathering new ideas for themselves.Here’s a short list: Read about chefs, meet them and eat at their restaurants (do you know who is in this photo I captured?) Start my day with black coffee and pruning my organic veggie and flower garden Read novels
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Across the country, hugs goodbye, cheers and tears, are marking the roads. The number one relief parents share with me is, “Thank goodness I am not alone with my new feelings. I thought I was being over sensitive and selfish.” Who doesn’t need support when walking a place you have never been before and you
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Melissa hugged her daughter at the college dorm, got in the rental car, and wept all the way to the airport. The tears surprised her. When you go through even an expected change, the reality settles in your heart when you wave goodbye. Parents know the relationship they had will be different. They aren’t sure
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Back to school is not only new beginnings for parents and students, but for anyone who feels the end of playful summer and the hope for more meaning, connection, and creativity in the Fall. Questions about relationships, finances, work, parenting, illness, care-taking, re-locating, wellness, and fun, rise up. I just want to let you
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I think we don’t feel it or view it enough. Parents, Boomers, Students, Divorced and Married, call me asking, “How do I know what I want to do next?” Under the opening question is their doubt, disappointments, exhaustion, and lack of support. You can relate to those moments. Who hasn’t been there? I truly believe
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Natalie Caine, M.A. natalie@lifeintransition.org
