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Episode 3114:

Shawna Scafe examines the mothers our culture applauds and the mothers it quietly dismisses, starting with that loaded little phrase, just a mom. She shares what it felt like to be called that after leaving her career, and makes the case that a mother's worth is not something anyone else gets to hand out.

Read along with the original article(s) here: https://simpleonpurpose.ca/moms-without-value-just-a-mom/

Quotes to ponder:

"It's a term that makes it socially acceptable to discreetly tear down the value of being a mother."

"For modern moms there is little value put on being a stay at home mom, it's not enough."

"You have to know that you are valuable as a mother no matter how mundane it may feel."

Optimal Relationships Daily is a daily relationship advice podcast where we narrate the best articles on healthy relationships, dating, marriage, and family, read to you by a professional narrator so you can strengthen your closest connections a little more every day.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Get the 200+ Page Optimal Living Daily Workbook (PDF) - Free.

Want to turn today's episode into an actionable plan? Join the Optimal Living Weekly newsletter and I'll send you our 200-page digital workbook immediately. It's packed with the best takeaways from the show, formatted for easy reading and implementation at home.

Get your free PDF workbook here: https://oldpodcast.eo.page/join

Discover all of the podcasts in our network, search for specific episodes, get the Optimal Living Daily workbook, and learn more at: OLDPodcast.com.

Episode 3113:

Dr. Lisa Firestone breaks down the parent-child dynamic that quietly drains love, respect, and attraction from a couple. She describes what parental and childish behavior actually looks like day to day, and offers relationship advice for meeting each other as equal adults instead of repeating the cycle.

Read along with the original article(s) here: https://www.psychalive.org/what-is-your-role-in-your-relationship/

Quotes to ponder:

"Very often, couples get into trouble when one person takes the role of a parent, and the other, the role of a child."

"The goal, of course, should be equality in the relationship, with each person valuing the other's autonomy, individuality, and independence."

"We need to start with compassion for ourselves."

Optimal Relationships Daily is a daily relationship advice podcast where we narrate the best articles on healthy relationships, dating, marriage, and family, read to you by a professional narrator so you can strengthen your closest connections a little more every day.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Get the 200+ Page Optimal Living Daily Workbook (PDF) - Free.

Want to turn today's episode into an actionable plan? Join the Optimal Living Weekly newsletter and I'll send you our 200-page digital workbook immediately. It's packed with the best takeaways from the show, formatted for easy reading and implementation at home.

Get your free PDF workbook here: https://oldpodcast.eo.page/join

Discover all of the podcasts in our network, search for specific episodes, get the Optimal Living Daily workbook, and learn more at: OLDPodcast.com.

Episode 3112:

Dr. Diana Kirschner explains how understanding men protects you from non-committal guys, players, and other heart-breakers. She walks through nine questions that reveal whether a man is capable of commitment, and offers relationship advice for trusting your gut instead of blaming yourself when things fall apart.

Read along with the original article(s) here: https://lovein90days.com/understanding-men-how-to-avoid-non-committal-guys-other-heart-breakers/

Quotes to ponder:

"Understanding men can liberate us from these self-blaming thoughts."

"If he is truly caught in his own Dead-End Dating loop, there is nothing you can do to change him."

"Your intuition will tell you the truth about a guy!"

Optimal Relationships Daily is a daily relationship advice podcast where we narrate the best articles on healthy relationships, dating, marriage, and family, read to you by a professional narrator so you can strengthen your closest connections a little more every day.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Get the 200+ Page Optimal Living Daily Workbook (PDF) - Free.

Want to turn today's episode into an actionable plan? Join the Optimal Living Weekly newsletter and I'll send you our 200-page digital workbook immediately. It's packed with the best takeaways from the show, formatted for easy reading and implementation at home.

Get your free PDF workbook here: https://oldpodcast.eo.page/join

Discover all of the podcasts in our network, search for specific episodes, get the Optimal Living Daily workbook, and learn more at: OLDPodcast.com.

Episode 3111:

Zachary Goodson traces his habit of staying in relationships that hurt him back to a childhood that taught him he did not deserve better. He explains how constant complaining kept him in the victim role for years, and what changed when he chose responsibility and self-respect instead.

Read along with the original article(s) here: https://tinybuddha.com/blog/complaining-keeps-us-stuck-relationships-dont-work/

Quotes to ponder:

"See my pattern? I stay in and return to painful, destructive relationships."

"If I stop complaining, what am I left with? Me, just me."

"Complaining doesn't change anything. It just keeps us stuck, victimized, repeating old patterns and unable to change them."

Optimal Relationships Daily is a daily relationship advice podcast where we narrate the best articles on healthy relationships, dating, marriage, and family, read to you by a professional narrator so you can strengthen your closest connections a little more every day.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Get the 200+ Page Optimal Living Daily Workbook (PDF) - Free.

Want to turn today's episode into an actionable plan? Join the Optimal Living Weekly newsletter and I'll send you our 200-page digital workbook immediately. It's packed with the best takeaways from the show, formatted for easy reading and implementation at home.

Get your free PDF workbook here: https://oldpodcast.eo.page/join

Discover all of the podcasts in our network, search for specific episodes, get the Optimal Living Daily workbook, and learn more at: OLDPodcast.com.

Episode 3110:

Dr. Margaret Rutherford explains why people go quiet around depression, and how that silence adds loneliness and shame to an illness nobody chose. She offers relationship advice on what to actually say to someone who is struggling, and why suspending judgment matters far more than finding the perfect words.

Read along with the original article(s) here: https://drmargaretrutherford.com/how-to-support-someone-with-depression-what-to-say-and-what-not-to-say/

Quotes to ponder:

"It's hard work to accept and work with depression."

"People don't want to believe that something unforeseen, something they can't control, can take over their life, and rob them of contentment and pleasure."

"Loneliness, invisibility, shame, and discounting don't have to exist for those with depression or any mental illness."

Optimal Relationships Daily is a daily relationship advice podcast where we narrate the best articles on healthy relationships, dating, marriage, and family, read to you by a professional narrator so you can strengthen your closest connections a little more every day.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Get the 200+ Page Optimal Living Daily Workbook (PDF) - Free.

Want to turn today's episode into an actionable plan? Join the Optimal Living Weekly newsletter and I'll send you our 200-page digital workbook immediately. It's packed with the best takeaways from the show, formatted for easy reading and implementation at home.

Get your free PDF workbook here: https://oldpodcast.eo.page/join

Discover all of the podcasts in our network, search for specific episodes, get the Optimal Living Daily workbook, and learn more at: OLDPodcast.com.

Episode 3109:

Evan Marc Katz responds to a reader who has spent two years with a kind, honest boyfriend and still cannot shake her doubts about marriage. He unpacks why good character alone is not enough, why the study she cites is far more reassuring than its headline, and what having doubts actually says about a relationship.

Read along with the original article(s) here: https://www.evanmarckatz.com/blog/marriage/how-can-i-be-sure-that-hes-the-right-one

Quotes to ponder:

"Chemistry can't redeem a broken relationship; all it can do is provide fuel (in the form of attraction) that irrationally erases your doubts, even when those doubts should be there."

"Marriage isn't simply about loyalty and stability. It's about a personal connection as well."

"Choices are rarely black and white. Relationships are ALL grey."

Optimal Relationships Daily is a daily relationship advice podcast where we narrate the best articles on healthy relationships, dating, marriage, and family, read to you by a professional narrator so you can strengthen your closest connections a little more every day.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Get the 200+ Page Optimal Living Daily Workbook (PDF) - Free.

Want to turn today's episode into an actionable plan? Join the Optimal Living Weekly newsletter and I'll send you our 200-page digital workbook immediately. It's packed with the best takeaways from the show, formatted for easy reading and implementation at home.

Get your free PDF workbook here: https://oldpodcast.eo.page/join

Discover all of the podcasts in our network, search for specific episodes, get the Optimal Living Daily workbook, and learn more at: OLDPodcast.com.

Episode 3108:

Leo Babauta argues that the discipline most of us grew up with teaches children the opposite of compassion, and that modeling kindness at home is how the next generation learns it. He shares what drew him to non-coercive parenting and to the practice of finding a common preference, so that neither parent nor child has to lose.

Read along with the original article(s) here: https://zenhabits.net/on-compassion-towards-our-children/

Quotes to ponder:

"What the friend needs is compassion, a gentle hug, a receptive ear, someone who understands and feels his pain and wants to end his suffering."

"And yet when our children are upset, we often do the opposite: we do not listen or seek to understand or feel their pain or seek to end their suffering."

"You do that by considering alternatives until you find an option that both parties are happy with."

Optimal Relationships Daily is a daily relationship advice podcast where we narrate the best articles on healthy relationships, dating, marriage, and family, read to you by a professional narrator so you can strengthen your closest connections a little more every day.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Get the 200+ Page Optimal Living Daily Workbook (PDF) - Free.

Want to turn today's episode into an actionable plan? Join the Optimal Living Weekly newsletter and I'll send you our 200-page digital workbook immediately. It's packed with the best takeaways from the show, formatted for easy reading and implementation at home.

Get your free PDF workbook here: https://oldpodcast.eo.page/join

Discover all of the podcasts in our network, search for specific episodes, get the Optimal Living Daily workbook, and learn more at: OLDPodcast.com.

Episode 3107:

Adina Soclof answers a mother whose son is the one child who will not clean up, and lays out eight calm responses that turn a power struggle into cooperation. She explains why non-compliant children are usually signaling a need to feel valued and in control, and how giving them the benefit of the doubt builds healthier relationships at home.

Read along with the original article(s) here: https://parentingsimply.com/why-cant-he-just-cooperate-how-to-handle-your-non-compliant-child/

Quotes to ponder:

"You will always have that one child who likes to rock the boat."

"It is always valuable to judge children favorably and reflect children's difficult feelings."

"It is ironic but non-compliant children need more compassion, more patience and extra dose of sensitivity."

Optimal Relationships Daily is a daily relationship advice podcast where we narrate the best articles on healthy relationships, dating, marriage, and family, read to you by a professional narrator so you can strengthen your closest connections a little more every day.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Get the 200+ Page Optimal Living Daily Workbook (PDF) - Free.

Want to turn today's episode into an actionable plan? Join the Optimal Living Weekly newsletter and I'll send you our 200-page digital workbook immediately. It's packed with the best takeaways from the show, formatted for easy reading and implementation at home.

Get your free PDF workbook here: https://oldpodcast.eo.page/join

Discover all of the podcasts in our network, search for specific episodes, get the Optimal Living Daily workbook, and learn more at: OLDPodcast.com.

Episode 3106:

Kristine Klussman shares how to find and cultivate your chosen family, from setting a clear intention to including them in holidays and special occasions. It is heartfelt relationship advice for building the healthy relationships and sense of belonging that family by choice provides.

Read along with the original article(s) here: https://www.kristineklussman.com/connect-by-cultivating-chosen-family/

Quotes to ponder:

"Begin by opening your eyes, and cluing in to the people who give you the greatest sense of belonging."

"There is no more sacred inner chamber to be invited into than births, deaths, and intimate family holidays."

Optimal Relationships Daily is a daily relationship advice podcast where we narrate the best articles on healthy relationships, dating, marriage, and family, read to you by a professional narrator so you can strengthen your closest connections a little more every day.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Get the 200+ Page Optimal Living Daily Workbook (PDF) - Free.

Want to turn today's episode into an actionable plan? Join the Optimal Living Weekly newsletter and I'll send you our 200-page digital workbook immediately. It's packed with the best takeaways from the show, formatted for easy reading and implementation at home.

Get your free PDF workbook here: https://oldpodcast.eo.page/join

Discover all of the podcasts in our network, search for specific episodes, get the Optimal Living Daily workbook, and learn more at: OLDPodcast.com.

Episode 3105:

Kristine Klussman explains why biological family can be a source of pain and fixed roles, and how cultivating a chosen family of deeply trusted people offers the support we yearn for. Her relationship advice shows how healthy relationships built by choice can strengthen your well-being.

Read along with the original article(s) here: https://www.kristineklussman.com/connect-by-cultivating-chosen-family/

Quotes to ponder:

"When we feel that our social support is lacking, we wither and suffer; when we feel supported by people close to us, we thrive."

"Chosen family are the beloved people in your life with whom you share a deep trust, loyalty and mutual commitment."

Optimal Relationships Daily is a daily relationship advice podcast where we narrate the best articles on healthy relationships, dating, marriage, and family, read to you by a professional narrator so you can strengthen your closest connections a little more every day.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices