The Other Side of Nice

Tag: writing

  • In the end, it doesn’t matter

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    loriday1974
    in

    A friend of mine lost her ex-husband recently. That sentence sounds simple enough, but their story wasn’t. Like many couples who have spent any amount of time together, they had a history. The kind that couldn’t be summed up in a sentence or two. There had been love, dreams and memories once upon a time.…

  • A Psychic Told Me to Throw Rocks

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    by

    loriday1974
    in

    A week ago, I booked a reiki session that quickly turned to a psychic reading. Now, before you roll your eyes or assume I’ve gone completely off the deep end, hear me out. I’ve always been fascinated by the idea that sometimes people can see things differently than we do. Whether that’s intuition, energy, life…

  • The Cat Didn’t Second-Guess Anything

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    loriday1974
    in

    Recently, my daughter’s boyfriend sent her a picture of the most beautiful little furball. She showed up on the steps of the cottage he’s staying at and helped herself to his lobster fishing gear like she had an open invitation. Make no mistake, this was no stray cat. We’re assuming it’s a female, she was…

  • The Noise Isn’t the Destination

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    loriday1974
    in

    “You will never reach your destination if you stop and throw stones at every barking dog.” — Winston Churchill I read this quote recently and found it profoundly interesting, it hits a little harder when you’ve lived long enough to know exactly what those “barking dogs” sound like. They aren’t always the obvious critics or…

  • The Quiet Strength of Resilience

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    by

    loriday1974
    in

    If you had asked me years ago what resilience meant, I probably would have given you a textbook answer; something about bouncing back after hardships. But life has a way of teaching us lessons in the most personal ways. For me, resilience has become less about “bouncing back” and more about finding a way through.…

  • Waiting for the Bus: Recognizing Codependency and Choosing to Walk

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    loriday1974
    in

    My therapist once gave me a simple image that stuck: You’re standing at a bus stop, waiting to get somewhere you really need to go. The problem? The bus isn’t coming, who knows, maybe it’s delayed; it might come…eventually. So, you stand there. Waiting. Watching. Hoping. You don’t actually need the bus; you can walk.…

  • Has Worrying Ever Changed the Outcome?

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    by

    loriday1974
    in

    Has Worrying Ever Changed the Outcome? I used to worry myself sick about everything. It wasn’t until I started therapy—after one long session where I poured out all my fears about my dad’s cancer and watching my kids struggle through different stages of life—that something shifted. My therapist paused, then asked me a simple question:…

  • The World Feels Like a Dumpster Fire — Here’s How to Take Care of Yourself Anyway

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    loriday1974
    in

    It’s hard to ignore it. The constant stream of bad news, division, uncertainty. The feeling that no matter where you look, something is burning — and not in a way that brings light or warmth. It’s exhausting to exist in a world that feels like it’s always on edge. Calling it a “dumpster fire” might…

  • The Quiet Power of Walking Away from Gossip

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    by

    loriday1974
    in

    Gossip is one of those things that slips into everyday life so easily we barely notice it happening. It can start as concern, curiosity, or even connection but in the mix of all of that, it often turns into something heavier. Something that doesn’t sit quite right. I’ve been on both sides of it. I’ve…

  • Proof that hard seasons end

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    loriday1974
    in

    There’s a morning every spring where I get up for my daily walk and there’s a noticeable difference in the air, today was that day.  There is usually still snow piled along the driveway, although most of it has melted here on the east coast where I live. Mornings still bite a little when you…

  • The Woman I Raised Is Teaching Me How to Be One

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    loriday1974
    in

    When I was growing up, being a “good woman” meant being agreeable. It meant keeping the peace and not making things awkward. There was an unwritten expectation to smooth things over when someone else made a mess and to carry more than your share all the while calling it love. The word no didn’t come…

  • Wanderlust meets routine

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    loriday1974
    in

    People love to say that life isn’t meant to be lived on repeat. That we aren’t meant to wake up every morning, pour the same coffee into the same mug, drive the same roads, and fall asleep exhausted just to do it all again tomorrow. Travel quotes flood my social media this time of year…

  • Nothing else matters

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    by

    loriday1974
    in

    I used to tease my son that the reason he had anxiety was because he listened to heavy metal music. It was too much for my racing mom brain on the way to school. “We should listen to something less intense,” I’d joke. Truthfully, I believe music was his escape — just like it has…

  • A clean place to stand

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    loriday1974
    in

    Have you ever caught yourself saying, “What did I do in a past life to deserve this?” No? Just me?  I often muttered this when I was being tested through rough times. I look back at the version of myself that I was in my 20’s, 30’s, 40’s and I’m proud of who I’ve become…

  • Emotionally available, energetically protected

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    by

    loriday1974
    in

    I used to take everything to heart. If someone was upset with me, I’d replay the conversation for days. I would spend hours crafting the perfect comeback in my head, only to keep it there. If something didn’t go as planned, I’d feel like it was somehow my fault and replay it until I was…

  • Choosing the right people

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    loriday1974
    in

    I’m an avid listener of the Mel Robbins podcast, so when I saw an episode last fall about the 80-year Harvard study on what makes a good life, I was excited to listen. A couple years back, my youngest had just gone off to college and was taking a sociology course. One night, she told…

  • You Don’t Need to Become Someone New

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    by

    loriday1974
    in

    Every January, for most of my life, I made the same New Year’s Eve promises: This year I’ll lose weight. Spend less money. Get myself to work on time (when my kids were little—lol).And every December, I’d find myself wondering where the year went and what happened to all that motivation. We’re told that when…

  • Hi, my name is Lori and I “add to cart” for sport

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    by

    loriday1974
    in

    How many times have you told yourself this holiday season, “I’m not going overboard this year” or “I’m all done shopping,” only to walk into a store and magically find more things someone in your life would “love”? My husband says if our Amazon driver misses a day, he’s going to file a wellness check.Honestly?…

  • Divine timing and the quiet work of souls

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    by

    loriday1974
    in

    It’s a small world!We’ve all said it. We’ve all heard it. That moment when you meet someone who knows your cousin’s best friend’s sister — even though they grew up hours away — and you just kind of laugh and shake your head like, How is that even possible? But the older I get, the…

  • If you want a village, you have to be a villager

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    by

    loriday1974
    in

    We’ve all heard the saying “it takes a village.” Usually, it’s in reference to raising children — but honestly, it applies to almost every stage of life. We all crave connection, support, and a sense of belonging. I’ll be honest: I’m an introvert. I do love people when the time is right, but being social…