Kim Roman Corle

As you walk away from your books and studies and move into the bright light of a new reality, your fears, anxieties and concerns will soon become distant friends. Time will quickly march on, and before you know it, you will be in the throws of life and all it has to offer. It's most important to take a moment and reflect on all that you have accomplished. It is amazing to think that four years ago you were just beginning this learning process.  Hearty congratulations to you.  Many steer clear of this path, or never finish what they have...

Maybe it is that very word "boss"; the boss of the department, the boss of the organization, the boss of the team but it connotes authority and if one isn't careful to keep appropriate limits, it can result in becoming the boss of you.  When this boss that you work for, and support daily, demeans you (or someone else in front of you) or reacts with yelling, unrealistic demands or contempt, it can rock your world.  And though I have been working for the past 30 years, it never seems to fail  when I encounter this type of "boss person" I am...

Note to self: the past 24 hours have provided, yet again, a reminder that it is oh-so-important to fill oneself up with the good, the lovely and the positive.  Let's see, we have the dear friend of mine who ran into her ex and felt terrible about herself all over again; the neighbor who can't seem to get in shape and told me "to hell with it" because she doesn't have the time to focus on herself (four children under the age of six); and, the client who was in total (and I mean total) distress as her computer crashed,...

Apparently March is National Women's History Month.  Not much fanfare for this.  In fact, I'm not sure I even knew it existed.  (And, oh please, if you have worked on this or are involved, no disrespect intended).  In the interest of supporting this celebratory note for all of us gals, I can shed a bit of history with you - we are tired.  No matter when they came through, or what period of time they lived, women of all types and ages and ranges are simply pooped. Now I get it, men are too and we all do too much. ...

Life can be so much fun.  There are people to meet, places to visit, and exciting relationships to enjoy. It?s wondrous when it all works, and it?s terrifying when it doesn?t.  Things happen. Horrible, horrific, and wonderful things ? and these things come every day - every day we are experiencing something new.  Even with the best-laid plans, we can find ourselves in the heat of a moment we didn?t plan.   Our kids get in trouble.  Our spouse gets laid off.  We find out we have a medical issue to manage. Our pay gets reduced.  Our house value goes...

  You know those dreaded working-at-home moments?  The afternoon your most important client calls and really needs your attention, and in a you-couldn?t-plan-this if-you-had-to moment, your daughter has to use the bathroom and it is an emergency (!) AND your son starts screaming at the dog because she is sitting on his toy. All while you are trying your best to get them to understand your particular form of sign language that means ?please, please, be quiet - 'puleeze use your inside voice for Mommy PLEASE'?and then someone cries, and your client is annoyed and you fall into a puddle...

I just finished reading ?Three Little Words? and am a bit confounded at how I related to the author, Ashley Rhodes Courter.  Ashley was raised in 14 placement foster homes until the age of 12 when the Courter family adopted her.  My heart broke as I related to the desperation she felt as she longed for her birth Mom to keep her promise and take her home.  Her observations are honest and painful.  It?s a heartbreaking story that gives one pause for the mere blessing of being raised by your biological parents. I related to Ashley and how she felt. ...

And so, it happens again, you are left upset, hurt, bewildered and disoriented.  And let?s not forget scared. Yet, if someone were to ask you, ?How are things?? or, ?What?s new?? the last thing you would do is reply with ?I?ve just been abused and I?m not sure what to do.?  Denial, the ever-powerful emotion that is often the coping tool of choice, keeps us in place and wondering what to do next. I loved pretending all was well when I was married to Darth Vader.  I was ashamed and humiliated to be in such a difficult position, thinking that...

She casually mentions this ?beach week? thing and how she and five of her good friends would like to go and have the entire ?senior year? experience.  Without even hesitating, I offered a ?sure? remembering how it felt to be 18, wanting to be my very own person, having the freedom to decide what I wanted to do, when and who I wanted to spend time with, and the best of all, deciding what I actually wanted to do.  OH the joy of these decisions, they seemed so freeing.  My Mom had a set approach for dealing with each of...