First Impressions Happen Fast People can begin forming opinions about us almost immediately. Sometimes It often happens before we have even finished introducing ourselves. People notice how we enter a room, carry ourselves, and what we are wearing. They also notice whether we make eye contact, how our voice sounds, and whether our expression seems
What People May Decide About You Before You Say Much Read More »
Age Does Matter, But Not the Way People Think People love to say that age is just a number, but I have lived long enough to know that age can matter in a relationship. It can affect health, energy, retirement plans, children, finances, sexuality, and the season of life each person is living in. A
The Perfect Age Gap: Is There Really One? Read More »
What Gabrielle Union Actually Said Gabrielle Union once said something about her first marriage that made me think differently about money and marriage. It also made me question the kind of power people sometimes believe money gives them in a relationship. She was married to former NFL player Chris Howard from 2001 until their divorce
When Money Becomes Power in a Relationship Read More »
The Part We Often Miss When people get into disagreements, there is one big thing we tend to miss, and that is perspective. We become so focused on defending our position that we forget the other person is looking at the same situation through a different set of eyes. There is an old idea that
Change the Perspective, Change the Conversation Read More »
When Somebody Plays Both Sides Listen to me, because this is one of those lessons that can hit your spirit if you have lived long enough to recognize it. One of the most dangerous people in your life is not always the person who openly dislikes you. Sometimes it is the person who claims to
Love Everybody, But Watch Who Gets Access Read More »
Seeing Through Somebody Else’s Eyes One of the hardest things to do during disagreement is to genuinely try to see the situation from the other person’s perspective. A lot of people hear that advice and immediately think it means giving in, but that is not what I am talking about at all. Listening to somebody
Listening Without Surrendering Yourself Read More »
Humanity Has to Come First The older I get, the more I believe that being human has to mean something deeper than belonging to a particular race, religion, culture, or nation. Those identities matter because they help tell the story of where we came from and what shaped us. I am not interested in pretending
Beyond Race, Culture, and Belief: Learning to See the Human Being Read More »
Most of What We Say Is Not Really About Information The older I get, the more I realize that much of what holds relationships together looks almost too small to matter. We spend a good part of the day saying things that carry very little important information. We ask, “How was your day?” even when
The Little Things That Quietly Hold Us Together Read More »
Why Words Matter More Than We Think Some people know how to speak in a way that leaves others feeling respected, even when the answer is no. That skill is not about being slick, fake, or overly polished. It is about understanding that words can protect both the relationship and the boundary at the same
Knowing What to Say: The Quiet Power of Emotional Intelligence Read More »
When a Season Starts Feeling Like an Identity There are seasons in life that become so important to us that we slowly begin to confuse the season with who we are. A marriage can become more than a relationship and start feeling like the whole definition of a life. Motherhood can become so consuming that
You Were Never Meant to Live Forever in One Chapter Read More »