Carolyn Hax Quotes
-
Some people can work amid chaos or conversations, and some can't - and while there's no doubt an element of brain wiring to it, there's also the possibility of acquiring skills that improve your focus.
-
Waiting for someone to propose to you only passes the "Really, it's tradition!" sniff test when both of you think it's the man's job to propose and both of you think that's awesome.
-
One way to make tough decisions is to take incremental steps that don't commit you to anything yet.
-
I have no quarrel with people who lack the skill or temperament to care for small children.
-
It's hard to send your baby off on a plane without you, though that's less reasonable, because sending him off in a car is statistically a bigger risk.
-
Of course the thoughts and awareness are there, but it's all incomplete and often fanciful - kids know there's something to know, and they fill in a bunch of the blanks with their imaginations if their parents haven't had the conversations and/or established themselves as sources of information. It's rare that the kids know nothing at all, and the somethings they do know are often only partially right or flat-out wrong.
-
The sudden death of a partner while expecting a child is so universally understood as awful that I don't think anyone with any other weight to carry is going to get to same kind of sympathy - except perhaps people who lose a child.
-
Once given, a gift is yours to use, store or dispose of as you see fit.
-
There is a difference between your parents' not reporting to you everything they do and keeping secrets from you.
-
There is a connection between environment and stress on both ends, with excessive clutter and excessive attention to detail both holding the power to distract us from our ability to love fully, work productively and relax effectively. So, what makes sense to me is for each of us to think this through on a few fronts: what constitutes a comfortable environment for us, how much effort we're willing to put into it relative to other priorities, and how well-matched we need our partners' preferences to be to ours.
-
It's probably good for your body and brain to get moving occasionally.
-
When you are stuck in a group of people who merely trade turns at talking about themselves instead of actually conversing, it could be a matter of their not really knowing how to converse as opposed to being too small-minded or excessively Facebooked.
-
Your friends will need you, too, someday. Maybe not in the same way, maybe not in cash and shelter, but they'll need you - to listen without judging, to invite them over when they're lonely, to show up for their events, to register in whatever way matters to them that they matter to you. Be on the lookout for these opportunities to give back, and do whatever is in your power not to miss many of them.
-
First group impressions can mask a lot of individual variations in the members.
-
For some people, the better route for finding like-minded parents is just to get out of your house with your baby and frequent baby-friendly places.
-
It's okay to forgive yourself immediately and for good.
-
Don't freight your answers with any notions of what you're "supposed" to do, and just see where your feelings point you. It can feel weird to be so formal about it, but if you're not used to doing it, then there's no shame in retraining yourself.
-
All of us assign different values to things, and not all of those values are going to line up with others'.
-
When people get more frustrated by their indecision than by the situation that prompted it, clarity often follows.
-
You need to make plans for your future, so plan your own future.