Never lose your sense of self
MAINTAINING a unique and separate self in any relationship is an ongoing and necessary process for the person who desires growing emotional wellness.
This can be most challenging in intimate relationships, marriages and as a parent, but it doesn’t stop there.
Maintaining oneself can also present an enormous challenge at work.
We all know someone who got so consumed by their career that who he or she was got lost in what he or she did for a living.
Similarly, we all know someone who got “lost” in love or gave herself completely to parenting and didn’t know herself or her husband when the children left home.
Such a blurring of boundaries in intimacy, family and career is often affirmed as love, commitment and sacrifice – or the call of mothering.
Some parents joke about it: “I used to have a life and then I had children.”
People who are emotionally intelligent are able to maintain a sense of self while engaging in intimate relationships, satisfying careers and effective parenting.
If this describes you, all is not lost.
Begin somewhere: express your opinions (even if they are unpopular); learn to say no; do something wild and unexpected; make slow shifts in your focus and reclaim your voice.