In our daily lives, we often encounter two distinct types of loudness: the audible kind that assaults our ears and the emotional kind that stirs our inner peace. While both can be uncomfortable, they affect us in profoundly different ways.

One of the longest waged wars exists within ourselves. What exactly do I mean? I’m talking about the daily battle between the ‘good’ and ‘bad’ that exists in our minds. I’m not sure if you’ve taken notice but there seems to be a push and pull struggle with how we view and talk about ourselves – which oftentimes isn’t very productive or supportive.

“Black and white thinking” or as I like to refer to it “polarized thinking” is an all too common phenomenon. Most importantly, people seem to have difficulty with recognizing how their polarized thinking shows up in their lives. One of the frequent manifestations of this are statements like “always” and “never.”
Especially when working with couples I often here it used in the form of, “you never…” or “you always…”

If you’ve ever spoken with a financial advisor or have taken a course in finance/investment, a common talking point is diversifying your portfolio (oftentimes in the form of mutual funds). This approach decreases risk. As the saying goes, “don’t put all your eggs in one basket.”

Why would we not do the same with our emotions, environments, relationships, support, self-care, etc.?