When Emma was younger, life seemed simple and fun, but in her early teens she started having feelings she didn’t understand. Why was she so anxious all the time now? And where did this sense of insecurity come from? It didn’t make sense, and it scared her to be feeling that way because she didn’t know what to do about it. Who was this new person she had somehow turned into?
When John was a teenager, he was focused mostly on playing sports, trying to impress girls, and having a good time. Nothing wrong with that, but he wasn’t thinking much about the choices he was making along the way, and the upcoming weekend was about as long-term as his thinking ever got.
It is a powerful truth—an assurance we can rely on—that we can improve our life by taking small steps. We don’t have to do it all at once, just keep making progress. By being intentional, we can change our life with a commitment, a plan, and one step at a time.
Our lives will be better than they would be otherwise if we make wise choices. We can learn about how to make good decisions by anticipating the future, examining the past, thoughtfully considering our options, and utilizing life principles that are proven to work.
Even if we are around people every day, many of us feel a sense of isolation and loneliness. Instead, we can become intentional about building connection with others and with God. We do that by thinking less about ourselves and reaching out to start the process.
Too often, we may be blinded by pride, selfishness, or lack of awareness. Which means we don’t do anything about our issues, and our problems become a downward spiral of denial. That all changes when we embrace awareness as a key step to life improvement.
Days go by, then months, and years, and decades. Too often, we look back and wonder, “I thought life would be better than this; why am I not making much progress?” The good news is that you can, and it starts by declaring you will be more intentional in life.
I glanced up when the laundry room door opened, and I couldn’t glance down. It was The Girl, and she looked as drop-dead gorgeous in a Virginia Tech sweat shirt and ponytail as she had in an IBM business suit. She didn’t recognize me—after all, we had never actually talked—even
Welcome to the STEPS Parenting Community! This is a new blog where you will get tips and resources to help parents and caregivers equip their kids to stay healthy, happy, and safe. We will also share news on useful resources and events to help you and your family. These days, all
A while back, there was period of a few weeks when I kept seeing a number of men I knew commenting on social media about the same article. What was it that had grabbed their attention? It was a Boston Globe story titled: “The biggest threat facing middle-age men isn’t
Life is a journey. All of us would like to see exactly where we are going, but that is not possible. Too much can happen; too much is outside our control. Building a plan for the future can help us take steps in the right direction and deal with change along the way.
If one of your kids is living a lifestyle that is different from what you feel is best for them, there are several things you need to understand about a concept known as codependency. But first, you may need to deal with any shame or guilt you are feeling about
One of the biggest misconceptions many of us have about life is believing that we have to handle everything on our own. That’s not how life really works.
We all get trapped in harmful thought patterns and negative self-talk, but we can learn to manage our minds. When we do, every day becomes better. That’s encouraging!
Many of us have an unconscious fixation on control that causes us to worry about things we don’t need to. One of the best ways to worry less is to loosen that obsessive behavior with a simple yet life-changing choice—to let go. Declare that the matter is not something you can change or just not worth worrying about. When the compulsion to control returns, let go again. That simple choice will bring a much greater sense of peace—both for you and the people around you.
Whether we know it or not, life is pretty much how we make it out to be because our perspective is something we choose. When things happen to us, it is largely our decision how much we are affected by them for good or for bad. For example, when we face tension or change, we are being stretched, which is a good thing when it enhances our perspective. If we embrace the tension we face rather than fear it, life becomes an exciting adventure of growth and expanding horizons.
People are busy these days, and the noise and clutter in our lives creates anxiety. It sometimes feels like we’re running in place rather than getting anywhere. This leads to an uneasy sense of dissatisfaction unless we choose to do something about it. But there’s good news, because we can find more contentment if we focus on things that are important and ignore the rest. If we actively take things OFF our to-do list and live more purposefully one step at a time.
Anxiety can be a good thing. Yes, you read that right. Because we can change how we think about anxiety and how we approach it, and that will change our lives for the better. These days, everyone feels stress at times, but there are things we can do to deal with anxiety better.
Statistics show that most families will face a crisis at some point, but when it’s your family, it may seem like the world is coming to an end. Unfortunately, with the epidemic of teenage substance abuse and mental health issues these days, this heartache strikes thousands of families every day.
This article is the last of a series on “Parenting in a Crisis.” If one of your kids is struggling and creating a crisis in the family, you will need all the help you can get. Use the other resources mentioned below to keep moving forward. If that journey takes your child into a recovery program, understand that this may be the best thing that ever happened to them, and it could lead them toward a much happier life.
