Abundant Life Counseling & Consulting Services, LLC

09/13/2025

Children can say harsh things. They can lash out, test limits, or push us away in moments of overwhelm. It stings — sometimes more than we’d like to admit.

But our role isn’t to match their immaturity with our own. Meeting meanness with meanness doesn’t teach respect; it teaches revenge. It tells a child that love is conditional, and safety can be withdrawn.

What they need in those moments isn’t punishment through our words — it’s steadiness through our presence. Boundaries can be firm. But our tone, our choice of words, our restraint — that’s what shows them what respect actually looks like in practice.

Because in the end, they’re still learning what to do with big feelings. And the way we respond to their worst moments becomes the template for how they’ll handle conflict, anger, and hurt for the rest of their lives.

Revenge might feel satisfying for a second. But love — calm, firm, dignified love — is what endures. ❤️

Quote Credit: ❣️

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09/13/2025

09/13/2025

09/13/2025

Po*******hy, like addictive substances, triggers a surge of dopamine in the brain overwhelming the reward system. This leads to a decreased sensitivity to natural sources of pleasure, making it harder to experience satisfaction from real-life interactions.

Studies using MRI scans have shown that heavy p**n users experience a reduction in gray matter in certain areas of the brain, which are crucial for decision-making and impulse control.

Research also shows that frequent p**n user can also lead to changes in brain connectivity, affecting cognitive performance and emotional regulation.

There are also psychological and behavioral impacts associated with frequent p**n use unfortunately. For instance, the brain can become desensitized to the sexual content in p**nography, which usually leads to a desire for more extreme or intense images to achieve the same level of arousal.

Po*******hy can also become addictive, leading to compulsive use and difficulty controlling urges, similar to substance addiction.

Studies have also linked p**n use to increased rates of depression, anxiety and other mental health issues.

PMID: 40309664

09/12/2025

Young children don’t have the perspective to say, “Mom’s stressed from work” or “Dad’s carrying old wounds.” They only have the here and now.

And in that moment, our tone, our sigh, our anger, our withdrawal — it doesn’t read as stress or trauma to them. It reads as “this is about me.”

They don’t yet understand context. They don’t know that adults carry invisible weights. What they know is the look on our face, the sharpness in our voice, the silence that feels colder than words.

And from those little cues, they start drawing big conclusions about themselves: Am I too much? Am I not enough? Did I cause this?

That’s the weight children carry when they’re too little to separate our inner battles from their worth. And it’s why doing our own work matters so deeply.

Because when we tend to the roots we inherited — the bad days, the unprocessed pain, the patterns passed down — we stop them from being misread as rejection.

Our kids don’t need us to be perfect. They need us to be aware. To notice how our words shape the narrative they’re writing about themselves. To remember that our moods may pass, but their interpretations often linger.

What we leave unresolved in ourselves risks becoming the script they carry into their own lives.

Because what spills out of us doesn’t just land in the air — it lands in them. And that awareness alone can change the story they grow up believing about themselves. ❤️

Quote Credit: Missy Willis❣️

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09/12/2025

Today, we solemnly remember the victims of the 9/11 attacks, as well as the first responders who risked their lives to save others.

Our hearts go out to their loved ones and to everyone who’s feeling the weight of this trauma today. You are not alone, and we will . ❤️

If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, please call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org. You can also reach the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741. You can find more crisis resources at mhanational.org/crisis.