by Sheryl Lisa Paul | Mar 19, 2023 | Anxiety, Open Your Heart |
I receive the question below so frequently that I decided it’s time to address it clearly in a post. This version was left as a comment on my blog a while back: Isn’t there such a thing as a bad match between partners, even if neither of them has red... by Sheryl Lisa Paul | Mar 12, 2023 | Break Free From Relationship Anxiety, Open Your Heart |
“Physical attraction is not a firm foundation on which to build a relationship, for the simple reason that it is never constant. It sets in motion a cycle of expectation and disillusionment that can go on and on. The person who lives in a world of fantasy will often... by Sheryl Lisa Paul | Feb 19, 2023 | Alanis Morissette, Break Free From Relationship Anxiety, Relationships |
Many of you have found your way to my work through the portal of relationship anxiety. From there, we’ve traveled into deeper realms together, including health anxiety, friendship anxiety, parenting anxiety, career anxiety, and generalized anxiety – but... by Sheryl Lisa Paul | Feb 12, 2023 | Anxiety, Break Free From Relationship Anxiety, Intrusive Thoughts, Relationships |
I was playing a game of solitaire the other night and a memory from childhood floated up to consciousness, followed by a wave of grief. I paused the game and breathed deeply into my heart, allowing tears to arrive and roll down my cheeks. As always with big grief,... by Sheryl Lisa Paul | Dec 18, 2022 | Anxiety, Intrusive Thoughts |
Continuing from last week’s post where I talked about the most important part of working with intrusive thoughts is to separate the content from the underneath layers that need attention, I wanted to give some direction about what the three most common emotions... by Sheryl Lisa Paul | Dec 11, 2022 | Break Free From Relationship Anxiety, Health anxiety, Highly Sensitive Person, Intrusive Thoughts |
An intrusive or unwanted thought arrives… What if I don’t love my partner enough? What if I’m a different sexual orientation than I thought I was? What if I’m trapped here forever? What if the world ends? What if I don’t love my baby?... by Sheryl Lisa Paul | Oct 23, 2022 | Intrusive Thoughts, Trust Yourself |
When I was a kid growing up in the 70s, there wasn’t much that we worried about on the global scale. Yes, there was the threat of nuclear war (which we protested on the streets of Los Angeles), but, ignorant about the effects of human consumption and greed, we... by Sheryl Lisa Paul | Dec 12, 2021 | Anxiety, Break Free From Relationship Anxiety, Highly Sensitive Person, Intrusive Thoughts, Relationships, Wedding/marriage transition |
There is often a predictable arc to relationship anxiety that includes three stages.* The first stage is characterized by typical symptoms of anxiety and panic: Trouble sleeping Difficulty eating Tearful Depressed Bolting awake in the middle of the night Difficulty... by Sheryl Lisa Paul | Oct 31, 2021 | 20s, Self Trust Collection, Trust Yourself |
On a recent group call, a participant asked one of the most common questions for those struggling with anxiety and intrusive thoughts is: “So if I don’t trust these anxious thoughts then what can I trust? If my truth is really that we are not right for... by Sheryl Lisa Paul | Aug 15, 2021 | Anxiety, Break Free From Relationship Anxiety, Relationships, Trust Yourself |
As humans in an uncertain world, we seek certainty in a variety of ways. We ask questions that are fundamentally unanswerable. We ruminate and obsess on a single thought (otherwise known as intrusive thoughts). We Google and text and seek reassurance in a variety of...