Shame cannot survive being spoken. It cannot tolerate having words wrapped around it. What it craves is secrecy, silence, and judgment. If you stay quiet, you stay in a lot of self-judgment.

Courage is a value. My faith is the organizing principle in my life and what underpins my faith is courage and love, and so I have to be in the arena if I'm going to live in alignment with my values.

Courage is telling our story, not being immune to criticism.

We're a nation of exhausted and over-stressed adults raising over-scheduled children.

I'm never more courageous than when I'm embracing imperfection, embracing vulnerabilities, and setting boundaries with the people in my life.

If we can share our story with someone who responds with empathy and understanding, shame can't survive.

If we own the story then we can write the ending.