Read more about the article Helping my kids remain open to positive change and willing to embrace it, even after they’ve been hurt
Divorce / Life after Divorce / My thoughts

Helping my kids remain open to positive change and willing to embrace it, even after they’ve been hurt

It's been an incredibly emotional evening, especially for the kids. I had to make a difficult decision tonight, but it was the right one. I'm completely physically, and emotionally exhausted now. The kids are very upset but I'm working to help them remain open to positive change, and embrace it, even after they've been hurt. The boys are doing okay at this point. Emmett's currently in his own bed, which is amazing, and with any luck, he will remain there. Gavin's already asleep and Elliott won't be too far behind. As I was writing this, Emmett popped his head in to inform me that he wants to do in-person learning again in the morning, which is awesome. Although, I just remembered that his clothes are still in the washer. I'll…

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May 19, 2021
Read more about the article We took a much needed #mentalhealth day
Day Trips / Family Fun / My thoughts

We took a much needed #mentalhealth day

Yesterday was amazing. It was also exhausting because I drove for over 5 hours but it was amazing nonetheless. As I mentioned in my last post, the boys had a very rough Tuesday night therapy session. While I'm not going to dive into the specifics of that, all that matters for context is that it was extremely emotional for them. I had decided to give all of us a mental health day and so I drove them out to Cook Forest State Park, near Clarion PA. It's about a 2.5 hour drive from our house but my parents were there and we wanted to visit them for a little while. The drive wasn't that bad and it was actually the first road trip we've taken in the new car. I…

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May 13, 2021
Read more about the article It’s been emotionally overwhelming day for my kids
Day Trips / Family Fun / My thoughts

It’s been emotionally overwhelming day for my kids

Today has been really upsetting and emotionally overwhelming for the boys. As a an adult, I found myself overwhelmed also, so I can only imagine how the boys feel. I was texting with a friend this evening and that helped me quite a bit actually because it was a pleasant distraction from everything that was going on. I realized the boys both needed and deserved a distraction of their own. I wanted to be able to help the boys to decompress and move forward so we had an impromptu bonfire tonight. We just cooked hotdogs but they were surprised and really excited to do that. I also decided to move some meetings around and give all of us a much needed a mental health day. I'm taking the kids to…

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May 12, 2021
Read more about the article It’s Okay To Not Be Okay
Confessions / Depression Management / My thoughts

It’s Okay To Not Be Okay

I wanted to take a minute and talk about my personal war with depression. I've been very open and honest about this but I've not updated you guys on how I'm doing in a little while. I feel like it's been forever, actually. First of all, I want to say that yes, I still struggle with depression. Barring some breakthrough in science and medicine, I think depression will be around forever. That being said, I manage my depression quite well and for the most part, it doesn't play a prominent role in my life. If it's not managed well or I go through a very difficult time, the balance I've worked very hard to establish, can be thrown off. When that happens, I can struggle a bit. I've actually been…

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May 11, 2021
Read more about the article This is the most deeply personal thing I’ve ever written
Inspirational Posts / My thoughts

This is the most deeply personal thing I’ve ever written

Tomorrow is never guaranteed. We're only ever guaranteed right now, in this moment. So often these moments get wasted. I'm guilty of doing that myself, far more often than I'd like to admit. I was thinking about this today and it hit me pretty hard. As humans, we tend to assume that we can say or do what needs said or done, tomorrow. The truth is, tomorrow is never guaranteed and there's no such thing as the perfect time. This is an older picture but it was captured while I was experiencing one of these moments. I've found that it's often easier to avoid or put off dealing with things, than it is to face them in the moment. I'm guilty of that myself. For some reason, I've been talking…

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April 29, 2021
Read more about the article My Moment of Clarity
Inspirational Posts / My thoughts

My Moment of Clarity

I woke up this morning, super early, filled with clarity, and laser focused. The laser focused part might be a bit of an exaggeration but I wish I was laser focused. The clarity part is very true, however. Life is full of twists and turns, detours and delays, setbacks and forward progress, joys and heartaches, successes and failures. I have found that moments of pain can lead to a certain clarity that I wouldn't have gained otherwise. Sure, it's messed up that I can't seem to find that same clarity elsewhere but it's still positive, right? I'm going to keep being me. I'm going to keep bettering myself. I'm going to keep moving my kids forward. I'm going to keep growing my business. I'm going to keep believing in myself.…

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April 20, 2021
Read more about the article I’m starting to write a new chapter in the book of my life
My thoughts

I’m starting to write a new chapter in the book of my life

I've haven't written anything super meaningful in a long time. The truth is that a I've written so much over the years that I've sorta burned out. There's something like 12,500 articles on this blog and I've written 99% of them. The rest is guest or sponsored content. I mean, gotta pay the bills right? I've got so many new followers that I've been able to get away with not putting a great deal of new content out because people are reading the older stuff for the first time and it helps them. It's not like there's a shortage of things to read. It's sorta cheating I suppose but I've been spread pretty thin and found writing a bit overwhelming. That's one of the reasons I started the podcast. It…

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March 10, 2021
Read more about the article Why I’m increasing my antidepressant today
Confessions / Depression Management / Medications / My thoughts

Why I’m increasing my antidepressant today

I gave myself one week to grieve the loss of my marriage and that week was officially over. While I'm not hitting the ground running, at least as quickly as I was hoping, I am moving forward. In a little while, I have an appointment with my PCP over the phone, due to COVID. I've made the decision to talk to my doctor about increasing my antidepressant. The reason behind this is that I recognize that everything has taken a toll on me and while I'm not defeated, I'm also not in total control either. Depression is influencing me a bit more than I'm comfortable with right now, and frankly, it has been. The last couple of years have been difficult and I've been dealing with a lot. COVID has…

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February 17, 2021