Following our divorces, we had a rough time and experienced many subsequent losses (financial, health, other relationships, etc.). On top of those accumulated losses, we each struggled with depression for many years. Oddly enough, losing everything we felt mattered taught us that gratitude is the most important key to happiness. We learned how to start […]

My first divorce exhausted me in mind, body, and spirit. I felt like I had just been kicked in the stomach all the time for about 4 years. I felt so much anxiety about all of the life changes occasioned by divorce that I couldn't even open my mail at certain times. I would think, […]

The National Institute of Mental Health cited statistics showing the suicide rate among males was 3.7 times higher than among females. For centuries we have been socialized to believe that men are the stronger sex and exist to protect and provide for women. As Lea Winerman wrote: “Try to imagine the Marlboro man in therapy. […]

The suicide rate for people divorcing is more than three times the national average. On the Holmes-Rahe stress index, divorce ranks second only to the death of a spouse as life's most stressful event. It even outranks being sentenced to a prison term or being given a terminal diagnosis. If you find yourself in this […]

We all know single moms who have become displaced homemakers when a divorce occurred, and they were forced to enter the workforce for the first time in many years or perhaps the first time ever. Even if these women have college degrees, if they have gone a decade or two without putting anything new on […]

Before and immediately following my divorce, I had a pretty tough time of it for about five years. It was by far the longest period of major depression I've ever experienced. I can't really explain the debilitating effect of that. I had major financial problems and I could hardly bring myself to open my mail. […]

The 2006 movie "The Holiday" is available on Netflix for one more week. I had the chance to watch it again with Cathy recently. It strikes me that this movie contains some themes that are particularly relevant to this group. The film involves four mid-single adults trying to find their way. Amanda Woods (Cameron Diaz) […]

I lost a hard fought election in 2006. My business suffered from my time campaigning and then from the Great Recession in 2008-09. I was representing some construction companies that owed me a lot of money. My (then) wife decided she was done in early 2009. I moved back to Utah in late 2010 for […]