Difficult Relationships / Rod E. Smith

It is in us to love. It’s human. We have the capacity for it. Even hurt and rejected people can love. Once a person accepts that love has more than romantic connotations, as powerful and valid as these of course are, he or she will be able to see its broader power.
Love is unleashed through [...]

Filed under: Anger, Anxiety, Attraction, Authentic love, Betrayal, Boundaries, Cheating, Children, Communication, Community, Compatibility, Control issues, Dads, Differentiation, Difficult Relationships, Double standards, Faith, Family, Generosity, Grace, Growing up, Happiness, High maintenance relationships, Interpersonal intimacy, Listening, Long distance relationships, Love, Marriage, Meditation, Past relationships, Personal growth, Re-marriage, Recovery, Sexual abuse, Sexual compatibility, Therapeutic Process, Toxic Relationships, Triggers, Trust, Victims, Voice, Weddings, Womanhood, Young Love | Tagged: courage, Family, healing, hurt, husband, Love, wife | 4 Comments »

1. Enriched is the man who treats others with kindness beyond their deserving. He is generous with family and strangers and he seeks the highest good for all, knowing that the wisdom he exercises in his daily life positively impacts people around him. He regards faithfulness with high regard. The very thought of betraying his [...]

Filed under: Attraction, Authentic love, Listening, Marriage, Meditation, Second marriages | Tagged: dad, Family, Generosity, Happiness, kindness, Love, men, peace, sex, sexuality, success | 3 Comments »

Are you emotionally out of shape? Psychologically exhausted? Tramped on? Feel trapped? Just as a person can be physically run down, so also can one become emotionally depleted. Here are simple, not easy, steps to getting your internal life into shape. Each will do your internal life as much good as frequent exercise does for [...]

Filed under: Alcoholism, Anger, Authentic love, Betrayal, Boundaries, Cheating, Children, Coaching, Communication, Community, Control issues, Dads, Differentiation, Difficult Relationships, Disrespect, Divorce, Domination, Double standards, Family, First date, Flirting, Forgiveness, Friendship, Growing up, Happiness, High maintenance relationships, Intimidation, Jealousy, Listening, Living together, Long distance relationships, Marriage, Marriage and in-laws, Meditation, Parenting/Children, Past relationships, Personal growth, Pornography, Re-marriage, Reactivity, Recovery, Relationships, Sexual abuse, Sexual compatibility, Toxic Relationships, Victims, Violence, Voice | Tagged: , drink, drunk, emotional, exhausted, help, Marriage, remarriage, tired | 7 Comments »

Healthy people seldom engage in friendships that are more work than necessary, and have little or no problem cutting ties when a friendship becomes over-taxing, overly demanding or draining. Friendship is supposed to be enjoyable and thus, whenever any of the following occur in a friendship, I’d suggest it is time to cut and run. [...]

Filed under: Attraction, Authentic love, Coaching, Communication, Community, Compatibility, Control issues, Differentiation, Difficult Relationships, Faith, Family, Friendship, Insight, Interpersonal intimacy, Jealousy, Meditation, Past relationships, Therapeutic Process, Toxic Relationships, Trust | No Comments »

“After several years of living on my own I’ve been living with my partner for the past nine months. Things are going well most of the time but there seems to be a little problem that arises from time to time that I am getting concerned about. If a problem arises at work, he rehashes [...]

Filed under: Abuse, Anger, Interpersonal intimacy, Intimidation, Jealousy, Meditation, Spousal abuse, Victims, Violence | 3 Comments »

Have you noticed the gods of possession, pride, and power, are at war within you? Possessions demand our committed allegiance. Pride calls on us to inflate our own importance. Power, and the desire to rule over others, or to be better, stronger, or louder, asserts itself within some hidden cave in our psyche repeating the [...]

Filed under: Happiness, Love, Meditation, Relationships, Therapeutic Process, Toxic Relationships, Victims, Voice | 1 Comment »

It appears you seek reconciliation. That takes at least two people. Forgiveness takes one. Apparently you have tried to do your part in releasing and forgiving one who has hurt you. That he or she will not reciprocate does not dilute your gracious act. In the short term it may be less meaningful for you, [...]

Filed under: Coaching, Communication, Community, Compatibility, Differentiation, Family, Forgiveness, Generosity, Happiness, High maintenance relationships, Interpersonal intimacy, Listening, Love, Marriage, Meditation, Re-marriage, Space, Voice | 3 Comments »

Reader’s Question: I am 74 and my wife is 66. We have been married for over 40 years and have enjoyed our intimate sex life. We have four very successful grown children spread out around the world. My question is at what age does one discontinue sexual intercourse? We still enjoy it.
Rod’s Response: Congratulations. [...]

Filed under: Authentic love, Compatibility, Interpersonal intimacy, Meditation, Personal growth, Sex matters, Trust | No Comments »

It is in us to love. It’s human. We have the capacity for it. Even hurt and rejected people can love. Once a person accepts that love has more than romantic connotations, as powerful and valid as these of course are, he or she will be able to see its broader power.
Love is unleashed [...]

Filed under: Love, Meditation, Personal growth | 6 Comments »

Great leaders are a rare find. Power-trip “leaders,” martyrs as “leaders” self-pitying “leaders” and manipulative “leaders” are plentiful; they run countries and cities and teams all over the place but great leaders are like an endangered unprotected species. It’s unusual to find them running anything at all.
I had a high school teacher who perfected the [...]

Filed under: Differentiation, Meditation | 1 Comment »