Good post, Epic. It's easy to discount our Inner Owls when they tell us not to put up with certain things or that something is not right. Taking the easy road often means we get to take the harder road down the track.

I am currently listening to my Inner Owl, and I am staying at home, not rushing about trying to see my FOO for New Year and my eldest sister's birthday as I usually do each year. Only my younger sister has made any attempt to contact me so far. I'm totally ok with it and am even enjoying being free to do some of the work I want to do at my own place. Look out, weeds! ( and I'm not only referring to the ones in my lawn).

love and hugs
kamary

Kamary, funny! I am trying not to be jealous when you all are enjoying the midst of summer time. Here, we are in a deep freeze and staying put if at all possible.

You are right about "reading the tea leaves," when it comes to the Inner Owl. Sometimes, the Inner Owl tells us to slap some sense into some people's heads, but we know we can't do it. lol. I think the Inner Owl needs training and education, just as our minds do. Mindfulness is a great example of this kind of training. There are times now when I can clearly see that someone is trying to put me down or make me angry, and I have learned to say things like "You just can't help yourself, can you?" or "Well, that's one way to look at it." But I refuse to let them make me seem like an angry person with an attitude. I think Reinvent stated it well by saying "don't let them steal your joy." I am to the point now, that in most cases, I trust the judgment of my Inner Owl, and can usually follow through.

love and hugs,
--EJ

Good, positive thoughts! Thank you for posting this!

Epic, that was a really helpful article...I wasn't back two days and 'felt' the poison of the scapegoater, this time I could see more clearly that it was 'him' and not me. This was a first step, i'm not really sure of my next steps but i'm hopeful..Thanks so much Epic...LMS

We need to see ourselves as CPUs, central processing units of your computer. We get data from many sources. Thank God that one of them is HOPE. But we also get data from our children and our families. We know our children and our families better than anyone. In fact, that may be why they push back against us so hard. They know they need to be independent. Independent from whom? Their peers tell them, that we are the culprit. It doesn't matter that all we have for them is love, support, and guidance. It's the guidance piece that they especially resent. O.K., I get it.

Now what do we do with that information? It depends upon our knowledge of their temperament, mostly.. How reasonable are they? We may have to treat them as if they are an irascible client that our business is dependent upon. Give them all the deference in the world. We may have to give them a little tough love. But in most cases, we have to give them a measure of both. This is where wisdom, experience, and patience comes in. LMS says we must be strategic. I agree entirely. Go with strategy over emotion.

hugs,
--EJ