Hooked On Healing

Wanting to please people sounds kind of nice, doesn’t it? However, if you are someone who feels you have to mold yourself to the expectations of everyone around you, you may need to rethink. You could very well be harboring resentment and, eventually, bitterness.

Do you take time for yourself? That alone time has stress-relieving benefits, no doubt. But what if all that time alone is not by choice? It can literally be forced upon you. The longer you isolate and keep yourself in solitude, the more symptomatic you can become.

This past Sunday, when I rode my bike, I was reminded that New York City may be the most bike-friendly big city in the country and possibly in the world. I rode from Kew Gardens Hills to Fort Lee, NJ, which included crossing both the Queensboro Bridge and the George Washington Bridge. Except for a few blocks in Forest Hills, the remainder of the trip had a separate bike lane — some adjacent to vehicle lanes without barriers, others protected by barriers, and some entirely separate, such as on the two bridges and the bike path surrounding much of Manhattan.

Do your friends or mate fail to interpret your needs? We all crave boundless love. But know this: your friend, husband, or wife who at one moment can be wonderful and sublime may, at another, be antagonizing and even exasperating.

If you’ve lived long enough, chances are you’ve been stabbed in the back — possibly even by someone you cared about. Trust is the foundation of any healthy relationship or friendship. Do you know who you can — and cannot — have faith in?

Do you know how to cope with stress or how to manage your sadness or defeatism? Mastering this skill would sure make life a lot smoother, wouldn’t it? First things first, sweet friends: we need to learn to identify our emotions. Believe it or not, you may have no idea what you are feeling at any given moment in time.