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 […]
We have learned recently that codependency (excessive reliance on relationships) tends to be learned in childhood and passed from one generation to the next. Yet we know that we can break free from codependent patterns, just as we can move beyond relationship failures and start learning from a successful new companionship. Generational shifting requires courage […]
How many stories have we heard about people who start to date while their divorces are pending, get engaged shortly afterward, and are married two or three months after the divorce is final? We've heard a lot of them. The brief second marriage appears to be a common phenomenon in our faith community. (We each […]
From the first time in adolescence when we start expressing our interest in the opposite sex, we start down a road of dealing with romantic rejection -- sometimes for the rest of our lives! For many of us, it will be decades until we find a companion that we mutually choose for the long haul. […]
Before Joseph Smith went into the Grove of trees to pray, and ultimately received his first vision, he read the Bible passage in James: "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him" (James 1:5). In response, he […]
Many people say time heals all wounds. We say bunk! Passively waiting for a period of time without any concentration on growth isn't going to heal you at all. Jeff has a friend who was divorced two years prior to Jeff's divorce. He has been single for approximately 12 years and is still telling his […]
The Law of Attraction is always at play in our lives—whether we're aware of it and intentional choose our focus, or not. We naturally attract and create more of what we focus on in our lives. Is the law of attraction working FOR you or AGAINST you? Honestly observe your thoughts and what you talk […]
Perhaps the most central message of the Book of Mormon is the mighty change of heart we can experience through the power of Jesus Christ's atonement. This "mighty change" is accomplished through the power of Holy Ghost, which brings about faith and even a change in our desires: "And they all cried with one voice, […]
There are plenty of relationships that begin with the premise of hating former companions, that hate becomes their new bond. Some continue in that pattern with a steady diet of negative comments about those same formers. How does that serve the couple? Is that the kind of relationship you want? Through our own experience, we […]
