Reflections from a midlife journey
Make yourself happy
It’s that time of year again. Holiday season. For me that used to mean cooking and baking up a storm. I loved it and looked forward to it every year. Now, eh, not so much. Somewhere along the way my relationship with cooking changed. It went from being something I did for me that made me feel special to something I felt I needed to do to be special. Cooking became my currency and contribution; it was how I provided value and proved my worth.
The safe harbor of self-trust
One of the biggest challenges of being empathic and highly sensitive has been the tendency to lose my sense of self. When I subjugate my true self to conform to other people’s beliefs, opinions, and expectations of who I should be and what I should do, my reward is the security I desire. But I pay a high price for this false sense of safety and comfort—my self-trust.