@Grahame Cossum, what you’ve said in a sentence could encompass a lifetime of study and introspection. My goal is to experience emotional freedom and the resulting peace I imagine that brings! I hope others here feel the same. Negative experiences in my past have definitely caused me some difficulties. I sometimes struggle with knowing what emotion I am feeling, let alone truly feeling it, and letting it pass through. Some emotions are difficult to experience and process (grief, fear) while others are difficult to express, (for me, anger). Emotional freedom for me is being able to identify, feel, process, and let go of feelings.

I’m putting on my earbuds!

@Troy Swezey This is a beautiful thought! Thank you for this post. Why settle for mediocrity? Why limit ourselves?

This is true! If we allow ourselves to be treated badly without calling it out, without enforcing a boundary, there's nothing stopping it, and it will continue. If you have weak or no boundaries, you will have footprints on your back and nothing to stop it. How does one start enforcing boundaries in a relationship where boundaries haven't been clear before? Isn't that going to create a lot of fallout?

I’m now running into this concept seemingly everywhere now that it has been brought to the forefront of my awareness. From years ago, I remember Dr Phil saying, “You teach people how to treat you,” and “You either get it, or you don’t.” I understood the first part, but the second part had me scratching my head for a long time. Maybe what he meant was, I understood the first part intellectually, but didn’t put it into practice, meaning I didn’t get it, or truly understand it. I had to be a doormat for a good number of years more and absorb a lot more dirt on my back and footprints before I truly “got” it, and understood it. Something from John Maxwell’s book that struck me was, “If you put a small value on yourself, rest assured the world will not raise the price.” If we do not value ourselves, others won’t either. We are teaching them to devalue us, or treat us with less value.

@Meghan LaVigna is something of an artist. I hope she designs something! We also need an image for the classroom page….just floating it out there to the universe. Maybe I should do a contest for that too if there is any interest? We have one image submitted for the contest so far. Creating with AI is acceptable!

Update: We have 3 entries so far!

@Grahame Cossum I’m definitely reading it with that recommendation. OK, I just purchased it along with the duck billed platypus stuffed dog toy in my cart.

Another book on my docket is The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth: Live Them and Reach Your Potential, by John C. Maxwell.