Tag: guilt

Not all narcissists are flagrant and boisterous with their abusive and manipulative behavior. Many are quiet and subdued around people who don't know them very well. In fact, that's often how the narcissist lures you into their trap.

You ignore the red flags, console them (even when they're to blame for whatever problem), and assume they will correct their negative behaviors. But nothing changes. That's because you're not dealing with a typical person—you're dealing with a narcissist.

Look, I’ve been in your shoes. You buy and buy and charge and buy for 30 days. Then, early Christmas morning as you’re putting the finishing touches on building a tricycle that’s only taken 10 hours to complete, you look at all the presents under the tree and discover a six-inch gap between the wall of presents.

Yikes! There are not enough presents! How will your children live with this gap? How will you live with yourself?

Few things in life are more uncomfortable than disappointing our parents. Most of us can remember a time when we let our parents down—like when we said our first swear word or told our first lie. I can still remember the crestfallen look on my mom's face when I came home after curfew 20 years ago.

I suppose the feeling of guilt can serve a useful purpose if it motivates us to make positive changes in our lives, but too often people use guilt to manipulate each other in unhealthy ways. This is a problem within many families, especially during the holidays.

The holidays are hard enough with your family, let alone adding a spouse and their family to the mix. What was once a time you only needed to navigate your family drama, suddenly requires in-laws, double the annoying personal questions and much more gift shopping (ugh). Here are a few tips to help navigate split-holidays with your significant other.

1. Manage expectations. Go into your respective celebrations with a plan and stick to it. If you are dividing your holidays between families, get ready for the guilt trips.

Let's face it, after six months, six years or 25 years, most couples move away from an exciting intimate relationship, to one of boredom. Inadequacy. Frustration.

For 28 years, I’ve helped thousands of couples to brighten up their intimate life, that brings more joy into every part of their existence. Below are four top keys to help you add that spice and excitement back into your sex life that may have been missing for many months at the least, and many years at the worst.

Loss hurts.

Both my grandfathers died before I could get to know them. Sexual abuse stole large chunks of my early childhood. One of my best friends died of a sudden illness when I was 12. My parents divorced. My mom disappeared into mental illness. My dad’s sudden, unexpected death when I was 15 shattered my world.

The hits came quickly and stuck deep. I was clueless about how to deal with it all. As a teen, I wondered if I was going to be able to weather future storms. I braced myself for the next loss. I lived in quiet fear, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

The following is a round-up of news items compiled by the Hitched editors during the week of July 31, 2014.

Marital Satisfaction Love Report
Satisfaction is a new show about a couple's modern marriage at its midpoint, which recently began airing over at USA Network, and USA Network commissioned a survey to take a closer look at modern romance. Now, this isn't the most rigorous survey, but interesting nonetheless. It was conducted online with 1,000 participants across the country between the ages of 18-49. With that in mind, here are a few highlights from the survey.