forgiving Archives ⋆ Mike and Susan Dawson

Self-care and knowing your deepest needs and beliefs

michaeldawsonlpc@gmail.com2024-01-08T01:13:52+00:00Self-Care|

As part of our ongoing conversation about good communication, we wanted to bring up self-care once again. You may remember Susan and me writing about self-care in August. And it’s just as important to talk about now because when couples find themselves arguing too much or not connecting quite like they used to, the odds are pretty high that one or both of them has stopped taking care of themselves. And it’s hurting their marriage. Self-care means eating healthy, exercising, being independent, etc. But on a deeper level, it involves taking control of your feelings, thoughts, and emotional well-being so that you not only love yourself but love others well [...]

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Self-care and the benefits in your marriage

michaeldawsonlpc@gmail.com2024-01-08T01:14:06+00:00Self-Care|

Some of you might remember an earlier post on The Fear Dance. It showed how fear not only keeps us from feeling emotionally safe in our marriage but also how easy it is to be too dependent on others for our happiness and fulfillment. We see it all the time — one spouse starts this unhealthy cycle, and the other follows. Well, as I was writing on self-care and the benefits it has for your marriage, it dawned on me how perfect a segue that previous post is for this conversation. You may hear self-care and think, “That sounds selfish.” Well, yes and no. Being selfish means making others’ [...]

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Forgiveness-Who is it Really For?

michaeldawsonlpc@gmail.com2024-01-08T01:17:50+00:00Foregiveness|

"The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong." - Mahatma Gandhi To forgive is one of the hardest things we do. The process can be so misunderstood, and yet it is so necessary. Why should I be forgiving when the other person is the one who has inflicted pain on me? An excellent question! But first, let’s look at what it is and what forgiveness means. Webster’s says: To give up resentment Stop being angry with Pardon Give up all claim to punish Overlook Cancel a debt Another way to look at forgiveness is to see it as a step toward re-establishing an intimate relationship!! The [...]

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5 Essential Truths of Self-Care

michaeldawsonlpc@gmail.com2024-01-08T01:17:55+00:00Care|

Ask most people about taking good care of themselves and being healthy, and they can probably tell you how they do that physically (or at least they know how they should do it). Even mentally or spiritually we generally know what we can or should do. But what about emotionally?? How do we do good self-care at a deeper, more fundamental level? I believe there are practical ways to accomplish this. 5 Essential Components to Good Self-Care: Receiving from others. We all have needs, desires, and preferences. Not allowing others to give to you means you run on empty. It also takes away the gift of others giving to you. [...]

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