Madison didn’t want to fight. Her relationship felt suffocating, but she didn’t know how to tell her boyfriend that she didn’t want to spend every weekend with him. She felt she owed it to him to arrange her schedule around him, but she’d begun to resent it. She’d missed several activities with her girlfriends, because her boyfriend wanted to do something that night. She kept telling herself that it was okay, she loved him, she was part of a couple now, and this is just what couple do. But the words were building up inside, and she didn’t know how long she could keep them down. Jack understood the feeling. When he argued with his wife, he felt terrible. He’d rather keep his mouth shut and say nothing rather than risk making her mad. When his wife brought up issues in their marriage, he listened. He knew that listening would make her calm down eventually. But he kept his thoughts to himself. All those unsaid words had begun to put a wall between them. Both Madison and Jack were stuck in...

Article from relationship coach Amy Waterman[3] Anne Lamott has some unusual dating advice. About 6 years ago, she was overwhelmed. She was in her sixties, helping her son raise her grandson, and she was in full people-pleasing mode… Taking responsibility for everyone, making sure everyone had what they needed, making sure everyone was happy. She was talking to her older brother one day, telling him how exhausted she was. He tried, presumably, to be reassuring by telling her one of those things that nearly all of us have heard at one point or another: that  God never gives you more than you can handle. She just about flipped her lid. She got up, got in her car, and drove. She screamed and shouted and raged at life for half an hour. She hated everyone, everyone needed something from her. Then she called a trusted friend, who listened to her and knew exactly what to say, and she was feeling better by the time she drove back home. Something had to change. And she knew what she needed ...