Humans are social beings; we crave connections on many levels - familial, friendship and romantic. It makes us feel good to have people who understand us in our lives; someone who gets our jokes, someone who's happy to see us, or someone we can turn to when we're stressed out/going through a rough time. For some of us, making connections is not that easy, and for others, keeping up our relationships often falls by the wayside in due to the busyness of our lives. Studies show however, that making and maintaining connections creates happiness, improved health (loneliness can lead to… more

Most of us have been through a tough break-up at some point in our lives. The feelings of despair, hopelessness, sadness and loneliness we experience are often overwhelming, and often seem endless. Usually though, with the help of friends, family, and our undeniable human spirit - we eventually get over our heartbreak. We slowly pick up the pieces, put ourselves back together, and move on, hopefully stronger and wiser in the end. Sometimes however, we can't seem to "get over it". We can't seem to understand how the other person could have left us. We had so much invested in… more

The dictionary definition of the word Hero is, "a person of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities." Literature, movies, and history are full of them; they are people we look up to and idealize, they are our role models, and unfortunately we often see them as possessing different and unattainable qualities than we ourselves are not capable of having. Being a modern-day hero however, is not about fighting dragons, or hundreds of men singlehandedly - it's about facing odds, surviving battles (internal and external), and overcoming these challenges. They come out on the other… more

Have you ever met someone who rubbed you the wrong way from the very beginning? Given a bit of time, it's usually not that difficult to figure out why a certain person aggravates you; many people have personality traits which have developed into negative exaggeration by the time they reach adulthood. This usually happens as a result of low self-esteem; the person latches onto a method of coping with situations and people which give them a false sense of power. They are unable to show their true self, as they are unsure of who that is, and without personal awareness,… more

No one ever said Dating was easy. Putting yourself "out there" takes a certain amount of courage, and finding that special someone can sometimes be compared to navigating our way through a minefield; we're interacting with people we don't know very well and who don't know us yet, communicating through the less-than-perfect art of body language, trying to be ourselves and retain our dignity while trying to find love, a state which can make us feel vulnerable at best. It's no wonder there are so many singles still searching these days, and things get even tougher as we get older.

There are times in our lives, usually through crisis or trauma, or as the end of our lives near, when we're forced to confront our mortality and take a hard look at who we are, and who we've been. These life changing events can really show us what's important, what we need to work on and change about ourselves, and they can also clear up any confusion about where we want our future to head. Wouldn't it be great though, to know these things without crisis "showing" us who we are and how we feel about ourselves and life in… more

Our past experiences and the people from it, play a huge part in our present perceptions and behaviors. We mustn't confuse behaviors with identity however; the essence of who we are at our core and our personal existence is something that is ultimately unchangeable; we are all valid human beings with our own individual purposes in life. How we choose to behave, and how we react to others and certain situations however, is what charts the course of our lives. Emotionally, most of us have old childhood wounds which have conditioned our responses into adulthood. If you find yourself re-living… more

Some say romance is dead, and in our hectic world, for some, this may unfortunately be true. Like anything worth its salt though, romance, after the initial "honeymoon" stage of a relationship, takes effort, thought, and consideration to keep it fresh and alive. So what is Romance exactly and why do we need it? Romance is an expression and celebration of two peoples' feelings towards one another, it's the identity of your love. Doing romantic things for your partner shows them what they mean to you. What often ends up happening, is once we're in a committed relationship, we stop… more

These days, it's fair to say that as humans, we're evolving on many levels. Social and personal conformity has become less important, gradually being replaced by self-expression and individuality. Evolution is inevitable, and because it's now happening on levels of spirituality and consciousness, it can at times, be confusing and even overwhelming. Bridging the gap between the societal and familial expectations of our past with our present quest for self-discovery and personal happiness, has become that much more important in order to ensure balanced and successful relationships, both with ourselves and with others. So in lieu of all this personal… more

It's pretty amazing to think of how much marriage, relationships, and even human interaction in general, have changed within the last 100 years. It used to be that marriage was assumed, something that everyone did - a carry-over from the days where it was mainly a business agreement. If a woman didn't get married, she was seen as defective, and labeled an "old maid" or "spinster" - as young as 35! In the 1960s, feminism abruptly brought forth many social changes, and the idea of "barefoot and pregnant" was no longer something a woman felt she had to live by.… more