Resetting the Bar

Coffee beans

I’m not a fan of competition. It brings out the worst in people, while trying to bring out the best. So of course I have difficulty understanding athletes using steroids or doping just to win a contest. These drugs have possible health consequences after all. For the athlete, I’m sure they believe it’s about achievement and maximized potential, but it’s driven by trying to be better than the other guy. The bar is set by another person. With that drive they are willing to do “whatever it takes.” Train more. Work harder. We as spectators encourage it and set up

On Balance in Relationships.

Blue rope knot

This isn’t just about balance.  Or how to stay connected.  Though it serves all of that. I touched on this just a little bit in my post about burnout, but I want to get into Balance in Relationships. We’re asked to care.  We’re asked to do something.  We’re asked to invest time and energy.  This is usually about a person.  Sometimes it could be a project. John was a military vet.  He didn’t have to be.  He could have been my childhood friend, or a guy I made friends with in a coffee shop.  In this case I met him

Not a Lab Rat

Upset Stick Figure

Minnie was forty years old, and came to see me in my office to discuss being depressed. She had felt depressed off and on for many years, but had rarely told anyone about it. It was like dragging a weight around. She could still get things done in her, just not quite as well as she’d like. At one point she had told her family physician about this, and she was offered an antidepressant, lexapro. She took it for a few days, didn’t like how it made her feel, and stopped it. Her physician told her they could try something