Donelan Counseling

04/13/2026

03/27/2026

“Being good isn’t about being spotless.” ~ Nora

3729 likes, 120 comments. “This obituary reads like someone telling the truth about their life without trying to clean it up. Addiction, recovery, failure, growth. All of it. Tip from Nora: “Being good isn’t about being spotless. It’s about being honest and sticking around long enough to do ...

02/19/2026

February is associated with celebrating relationships. Sometimes relationships aren’t meant to be forever, though. This is a great listen about healthy ways ti end relationships. The things discussed in this podcast are specific to romantic partners, but I really think they are also generalizable to all relationships.

Podcast Episode · Am I Doing It Wrong? · 02/19/2026 · 1h 4m

02/18/2026

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​The classic Taoist parable has found new life on TikTok, but its core message stays the same.

02/04/2026

Playing with ChatGPT tonight. What do you guys think?

01/28/2026

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Rumination can keep your brain stuck in a loop. Therapists explain why it happens and share simple, research-backed ways to stop negative thinking before it spirals.

01/22/2026

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01/01/2026

When I say ‘happy new year’,
I’m not for a moment,
expecting this to occur,
for that is not possible,
a year must be all things.

Happiness must come and go,
like the tides and the winds,
just as sadness,
and all the emotions in between.

When I say ‘happy new year’,
I’m really wishing you,
a baseline of peace,
of gratitude.

Because if you can sit with these things,
for the most part,
happiness will thrive,
when it does arrive,
and sadness will know its place in the mix.

If you can nourish these things,
daily,
you will also grow hope,
for it flourishes in such soil.

And hope is the key,
to this enigmatic state
of ‘happiness’ we seek.

When I say ‘happy new year’,
I’m really wishing you more happy days,
than sad days,
more joy than misery,
more laughter than tears…
and the wisdom to accept,
that they all belong.

Happy new year, my friends.
Happy new year.

Donna Ashworth

From ‘to the women’ 📕❤️

#2026

12/31/2025

A Willingness to Keep Showing Up

I step into this new year
gently, without resolutions,
with just a simple willingness,
to keep going,
to keep moving forward.

Not the bright, declarative kind of decision
that arrives with banners and promises,
but the quieter kind,
the one that asks for nothing grand.

No transformation.
Just an honest effort
to place one foot in front of the other,
without needing it to be a victory march.

To keep going isn’t strength.
It’s letting the days arrive as they are,
some heavy,
some hollow,
some unexpectedly kind.

It’s allowing grief, fatigue, memory, and love
to share the same room,
without insisting that any of them leave.

There is no list.
No reinvention.
No deadline for becoming someone new.
There is only the steady choice
to remain present,
to trust that willingness itself
is an act of grace.

So this year begins
not with resolve, but with intention:
the intention to stay present,
the intention to try again tomorrow,
the intention to simply keep showing up.

~ 'A Willingness to Keep Showing Up' by Spirit of a Hippie

✍️ Mary Anne Byrne

~ Art by Olya Haydamaka

12/31/2025

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