My daughter recently had her braces taken off. After two years of nightly headgear and metal on her mouth, she was finally free. Since she had them put on, she would talk about how much she missed her “freedom”. Yes, the freedom of eating sticky candy, whole apples,...
Have you ever thought to yourself, “If I could just know the future, then everything would be ok.” This kind of magical thinking troubles a lot of us. It’s called anxiety, and thoughts like this carry the potential for a lot of wasted energy. Anxiety is a powerful...
Perhaps you’ve heard the stories of canaries in coal mines. Miners would take these yellow birds down into the depths of the earth because of their sensitivity to harmful elements – these birds would sound the proverbial alarm that would signal danger to the...
This season I have been counting down every day until Christmas. Knowing that in a few short days all of the hope, longing, and waiting will be over. Done. Then it’s 364 days until the next Christmas. I try every year to hold on to the magic by playing all of the...
“My heart beats so hard, I feel like I have an earthquake inside of me. It’s weighing me down and my hands shake with the need of safety and comfort.” -Karen Quan There are points in everyone’s story where life happens and we must respond. The...
In a world that rewards us for moving at a dizzying pace, it is often hard to remember that we are limited creatures. We have physical bodies, we live in particular places in space and time, and we have needs. Meanwhile, technology tells us that we can transcend time...
I picked up the phone and called someone when I found myself looking at something called a “bathtub bladder”. A bathtub bladder is a big rubber ball that you install in your bathtub to store drinking water. I connected with a good friend of mine and I told him the...
My fellow human beings, there is no doubt that we are in the midst of hard times. The recent tornado that tore through parts of Nashville, the political divide that continues to separate our country, and now, the ramifications of Covid-19 on our day-to-day lives are...
This season I have been counting down every day until Christmas. I have been playing all of the classic Christmas songs from Bing Crosby to Amy Grant. However, there is still an emptiness I feel. The fear comes up when I have a second to sit still. Anxiety has a tight...
We do not truly fear the unknown. In reality, we fear a recurrence of painful events we have already experienced, seen, or know have happened to someone else. This fear of recurrence is experiential and understandable. Nevertheless, it can trap us in a cycle. The...
Is the experience of humiliation normal? Although the experience of humiliation is extremely common, it is not normal. We were born with the emotional tools not to be reduced by the power of its attack. However, if we are not raised to use the tools, or do not learn...
Calls to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK have increased 25% since the recent deaths of two very notable people. The highly publicized deaths have shaken people with shock, fear, and awareness. The increases in calls are from friends of...
According to the journalist Johann Hari in the book, Lost Connections, researchers have concluded, “humans need tribes as much as a bee needs a hive” (pg. 77). When a bee loses its hive, it goes “haywire” (pg. 90). When humans lose connection with other humans, we...
As one who is all too familiar with the realities and exhausting effects of depression, I find myself looking for ways to describe it in a more tangible way to myself and the people in my life. The difficulty is that, unlike other infirmities, you cannot see...
Leaders find much fulfillment in serving others. Whether it’s serving as a CEO or a parent, leaders most significant moments come when they are giving their gifts, abilities, passion, and creativity. Even so, leaders who pour out great energy doing what is fulfilling...
Anxiety takes us away from what is true and makes us fretful, distrustful, impulsive, and controlling. In anxiety, we rob ourselves of daily living and its experience. Instead of living in the present we try to control our future in order to prevent a recurrence of...
The Cost of Gladness A friend of mine told me a story of entering the seventh grade middle school. He’s a grown man, now; flies for FedEx. In fact, he is the captain that does check rides with other pilots to make sure they are topnotch. Basically, he is master of his...
By Beth Gillem With fall quickly approaching, it seems that the mad rush to do all the “lasts” of summer begins and the “to do” lists for the start of fall rapidly grow. It happens every year. There is an implied ending and beginning that happens in September....
If you have been in a Sage Hill Counseling office in the past year, you may have noticed a chunky blanket draped over a couch or chair. These quirkily shaped blankets are stuffed with heavy beads in varying weights. You may be wondering why a counseling center has...
Have you ever thought to yourself, “If I could just know the future, then everything would be ok.” This kind of magical thinking troubles a lot of us. It’s called anxiety, and thoughts like this carry the potential for a lot of wasted energy. Anxiety is a powerful...
Things happen in life sometimes that we cannot explain or anticipate. When these events are painful, it’s hard to let them go. Maybe you’ve said this before: “If I only would have known.” “WHY?” “Wait, what happened?”...
Anxiety sucks. Not many will argue with that. Because of how scary anxiety is, it’s hard to believe it is anything other than something to avoid. But beyond its very real terror, anxiety is trying to tell us something important. Anxiety is an internal...
My daughters were born on Halloween and New Year’s Day. That means that nearly all of our family “holidays” are crammed into about a 45 day window. I’d like to think that, somehow, my holidays are more stressful than yours. But that’s not really true. The Holidays...
Have you ever thought to yourself, “If I could just know the future, then everything would be ok.” This kind of magical thinking troubles a lot of us. It’s called anxiety, and thoughts like this carry the potential for a lot of wasted energy. Anxiety is a powerful...
