Everybody has family dramas. But while no family is entirely healthy, it's always great to be in a family where there's less drama. My wife, Yvonne Rainbow Teplitsky, brilliant artist, founder and owner of Artsy Goddess Studio, hails from Denmark. With my American background and her upbringing from a different culture, we've had our share of family drama with our relatives. How can a couple stand up for themselves and their happiness amidst the expectations of their family?

In today's episode, Yvonne and I share how we handled family drama and stood up for the decisions we made for ourselves. We explain how deciding for your happiness can get genetically or energetically passed down to the next generation and change your family's narrative. We reflect on how standing up for our decisions made us happy and set the tone for the rest of our lives together.

We also discuss why we shouldn't make decisions to satisfy other peoples' expectations and highlight how setting up boundaries can break family drama. I also answer a listener's question about whether she should invite her relatives to her wedding next fall and why planning your wedding shouldn't be about protecting other people or their feelings, but about celebrating the love you share with your partner. I explain what you should consider when deciding who to invite to your wedding celebration to stay authentic and true to yourself and your feelings as well as my philosophy on the younger generations often surpassing their parent's ability to set boundaries.

" We felt into our hearts and co-created what this family was going to be about." - Yvonne Rainbow Teplitsky

This week on Relationships! Let's Talk About It:

• Why you shouldn't make decisions based on other peoples' expectations
• The impact on our children when we stand up for ourselves
• How setting up a boundary can shift a family's pattern and break family drama
• The reason decision-making has to be outside of other peoples' expectations
• Why you shouldn't offer an explanation when you say no
• The long-term effects of choosing our happiness
• How Rainbow and I handled family drama when we were getting married
• Why we decided against a church wedding
• The family drama over the birth of our son and how we handled it as a couple
• How standing up for our decisions set the tone for the rest of our relationship
• The way Rainbow supports me whenever I need to make a decision

Listener Question of the Week:

• Should I invite my relatives to my wedding?

Related Content:

• Courage In Relationships
• Taking Responsibility In Your Relationships
• Managing Conflict In Relationships
• Encourage Your Partner's Authenticity
• Encourage Your Partner's "Deeper" Authenticity
• Time Apart vs. Time Together: What's Healthy?

Connect with Yvonne:

• Artsy Goddess Studio
• Yvonne on LinkedIn
• Yvonne on Facebook
• Email: [email protected]

Let's Talk About It!

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Theme music "These Streets" provided by Adi the Monk