In the book Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life, Ann Lamott talks about short assignments. The idea is that if you sit down to write a book, it will be too overwhelming and you won’t accomplish it. But if you sit down and just plan to write short amounts, you will be much more likely to achieve the task of writing an entire book. You do not need to know every piece of the book before you write it. You just need to take it little by little. I tell families of young children the same concept all the time. Don’t tell a child to clean up…

“I’m so sorry!” “How are you doing, really?” “Why haven’t you started dating yet?” “I can’t believe someone would leave you…you’re so nice.” These are all statements (among others) that separated/divorced people hear from those in active relationships. For most married people, divorce is one of the worst things they can think of. It is terrifying to watch it happen. The statements are coming from caring hearts and from people that want to show support. I was one of those people. I thought that in many instances divorce was a result of not working or caring hard enough. I’m sure I used some of these sentences. I am absolutely sure…

“I’ll never give up [insert name of food here]”. I remember thinking that I would die without bread. And cheese. Actually, I remember saying those things out loud on many occasions. One thing I have learned is that once you feel lousy enough, you will do things you never thought you could or would in order to feel better. So I gave up gluten several years ago to try to positively impact my autoimmune hypothyroid condition. I started rather slowly and told myself I would do it for 30 days. I did feel better since I was eating less processed foods and more whole foods. So I continued…for about 3…