My anxiety and depression diagnoses serve a valuable purpose. — In 2014, I was in a dark place in my life. I blamed my anxiety and depression on the “quarter-life crisis.” But really, that was just my attempt to wish away my mood disorders. …

When hope dims, affirmations rekindle the flame. Here are my six favorite affirmations. Exerting effort at anything and not seeing positive results can be discouraging, I learned this after job rejections, friendship losses, breakups, poor grades, and failure to meet personal goals. Perhaps you’ve had some of these experiences, too. …

Although mental health stigma has declined over the last year, it is still a major issue. Here are some ideas on how to recognize and reduce it. Mental health stigma affects how we perceive psychiatric disorders. It also affects self-esteem and progress in mental health treatment. …

We all face stressful times in life. It can be easy to imagine the “worst-case scenarios.” But what if we could picture the opposite happening? Here are a few common examples of stressors and visualizations of positive outcomes. Searching for a Job You have been unemployed for a while. You’re relying on your friend…

And Some of the People I Will Meet — We live with ourselves every day. No one’s reading our minds or feeling all our feelings for us. We try to find our own way, getting lost in the maze and ourselves. …

Sometimes you love people. Other times, you can’t stand them. You can’t always decide whether you want to go out or stay inside. You enjoy doing things by yourself. But after a while, you wonder what you’re missing. You value your time with a small group of friends. Sometimes getting…

Sometimes it’s hard to remember to pray and have faith when we cannot physically see God. One thing that helps is having tangible reminders of His goodness. Every day, I wear a necklace that says “faith” with the infinity symbol. This reminds me that my faith will never end. I…

Quiet voices are more powerful than people realize. — His voice melts the ice on cold days Sweet words create a warm embrace My voice is loud, fast, and booming His voice is soft and soothing It tames the chaos in my mind It calms my stress during hard times When he’s not around, I think of his voice; it blocks out the unnecessary noise…

This is Jax! He is turning 1 on Super Bowl Sunday! In this post, I will share 10 fun facts about my little buddy. Lulu is his best friend. They go everywhere together. Jax is either very energetic, or lazy and sleepy. There is no in-between. He likes everyone. But…