Narcissists need a toy to play with. Much like cats play with mice, narcs like to lay in waiting until the mouse feels secure and is out in the open. Once the mouse is out in the open and is feeling safe, that is when the cat strikes the hardest. When the mouse least expects to be taken over, that is when cats enjoy striking the most.

Narcissists are clever. They lure victims in with their compliments, kind words, and adoration. In the beginning, and during the 'safe phase' they pretend to 'see' their victims in ways others have failed to. If you are a tired wife, a narcissistic man will be sure to pick up on your weary feelings and drown you with praise. He will lead you to believe that others are fools for not noticing how hard you work. He will tell you your husband is a fool for not appreciating his hard working wife. You will feel seen, heard, validated, understood, and soon you will begin to feel young and even sexy again. He will look at you in ways that make you feel...

“You never tell me how you’re feeling”, it’s a common complaint that men often hear. For many, it’s the first salvo in a long conversation that will cause their partners to touch on their deficiencies, and lack of emotional intimacy and disregard for their partner’s emotional needs. Ironically, the more a man is berated for not having feelings, the less likely he is to share them with the one pointing the finger. Oddly enough, conversations like these often times end up ignoring the man's feelings altogether.  

Let's take a look at this dilemma, shall we?

Men are often accused by partners for 'not having feelings' and yet, men have just as many emotions and feelings as any member of the opposite sex.  And just because women are more comfortable expressing how they feel, does not give us the right as females to criticize, coerce, or manipulate the men in our lives into opening up.  

Let’s be clear: many men have a difficult...

The HARDEST thing to do in life is to learn how to LOVE YOUR SELF!!!!

Why?

It is easy to love others because we don't know all of their flaws--like we know our own.

It is easy to love others--because it is easy to fantasize about the idea that someone else is totally freaking awesome--because we are not aware of their shadow side.

It is hard to love the self--because we know what our flaws are. We know what we look and smell like at 4 am. We know the way food gets stuck in our teeth. We know our hair and skin are thinning. We know we have cellulite and spider veins. We know our sisters, brother, mothers, fathers, and spouses have crappy opinions of us. We know we aren't always good with money. We know we sometimes scratch our asses and do the kinds of things that are socially unacceptable, like release a fart in public when no one is around. I mean come on--if you have ever farted in public you know the one you love has too. It's time to just get REAL!

Our brains are NOT...

Codependents are dependent on people. We seek validation, acceptance, and permission to feel what we feel and think what we think. Even when we are 'feeling' and 'believing' we should end a friendship or some other type of a relationship like a marriage or business agreement, we struggle with believing we have a right to do so. Even when we get angry, we look to the one who has pushed our buttons for permission to feel upset.

When it comes to letting go, it helps to consciously accept that none of us ever let go because we want to. Letting go is always painful. We always doubt ourselves and we are never happy about doing so. We let go because the person we trusted has acted in a way that has caused us to understand that the trust we once had is gone. We let go because we understand, that the person we care for does not value who we are. We let go because, no matter how many times we have tried to resolve an issue, the issue never gets resolved. We let go because the relationship and...

Are you in a codependent relationship and suffering with enmeshment?

Most of us can empathize with other people to a particular degree. When we notice a photo of a grieving mother, within us is the ability to imagine how she feels. If you were to witness someone struggling to get their car door open, you would immediately empathize with this person because you have the ability to imagine what it would feel like to be in the same situation. This ability to empathize with others is made possible through what scientist refer to as mirror neurons.

But what happens in the case of codependents, when we have been conditioned to ‘not’ feel our own feelings, and instead have been conditioned to worry more about ‘others’ feelings? What happens when those of us who are more empathetic than the average person, start taking on the emotions of others? What happens when the highly empathic codependent person starts hanging out with those who are not working on their...

Narcissists don't always know they are narcissists. We have to keep this in mind. A narcissist is like speaking to a tree. A tree is convinced its a tree. When we speak to a tree--we know that the tree believes it is a tree. But what if the tree wasn't really a tree. What if the tree was really a bush but the bush just thought it was a tree? What if because the bush was planted in a forest full of trees, the bush just assumed it was a tree too?

Narcissists assume they are kind, wonderful human beings. They are unaware they are not trees--they are NOT kind--they are not LOVING and instead they are self-absorbed and only exhibit kind and loving behaviors when it SUITS THEM. They are only able to appear to be kind and loving when doing so helps make THEM look good.

Have you ever had the experience of a mother, father, boyfriend, sister, brother, or friend who treated you like crap when no one was looking BUT when their was suddenly an audience the one abusing you in the dark could turn...

It is important to begin by saying that narcissists don't know they are narcissists.  This is crucial to understand. As you begin to question your relationship you will undoubtedly begin questioning the narcissist, and when you do you'll need to be prepared.  

1.) You are always wrong and they are always right.  Narcissists rely on an idealized version of themselves to relate to the outside world.  This fantasy version of themselves guards them from having to confront their own imperfections. Wounded to their core, narcissists rely on this idealized version as a form of protection.  When you dare to suggest that a narcissist might be wrong, they don't back down.  They are convinced you must be wrong and are unaware that a deeply ingrained, maladaptive defense mechanism is making it impossible for them to hear others. Making others wrong and rationalizing why others must be wrong, protects their fragile psyche from having to...

The blessing of being human is the fact that we have a consciousness. Unlike animals, we have the ability to choose and to act upon our free will. Animals do not have free will. A horse cannot become a painter or violinist anymore than a rose can choose to become a tulip. A tree is rooted to where its seeds have been planted. If ants wish to invade the tree, there is little the tree can do. And even a horse, if a man wishes to tame a horse and breaks its will to be free, he can. Man has dominion over the land and in the end, in spite of the horses wild and free nature, man can do what he wishes to the horse including killing it if he chooses to do so.

The human mind is not stuck inside its skull like the tree is rooted to the ground that supports it. Our mind is NOT like the horse, in that, ultimately there will be a force greater than our own that can control it. Although adult abuse survivors may feel they are being controlled by others, the truth is, it is only the belief...

When I was in my early thirties my sister in law passed away. She was 28 years old. A few years later, when I was 37, one of my best friends died suddenly, without warning. Each of these women left behind two small children.

The most amazing thing was, life went on. Each time I sat through the moments of processing these deaths, I felt as if the world should stop spinning, but it never did. Their kids woke up the next morning and had breakfast, played video games, and put on their socks. Their husbands eventually returned to work and the kids went back to school.

Many years later, the children of these young women have graduated college and have begun dating. Rarely do we speak of my sister in law and my dear friend anymore, although my home office has a number of pictures of my friend Cathy hanging on the walls. I think of them and their lives often. Their passings taught me to appreciate the fragility of life and sobered me up to the idea that our life here is limited. Both deaths...

We all have more than one side.

We are all conscious as well as unconscious.

We are all our current ages, but within us resides our two-year-old and seventeen-year-old selves as well. We are here and we are there. We are in the present, and yet within us we carry our pasts, all the while creating our future.

We all still carry within us our twelve-year-old self who struggles with knowing who we are, with feeling worthy, and who wonders 'what the hell the meaning of life is all about anyway.'

We are all our wounded egos as well as our divine self.

We all have talents and we all have flaws.

We have all had great successes as well as great failures.

We are all stuck in some ways and moving along in others.

We have all done good and we have all done bad.

We have all told the truth and we have all lied.

And perhaps the most profound contrasting truth of all is the fact that we are all living as well as dying right here and right now.

Now before you start feeling all depressed and crap, I...