{"id":2424,"date":"2012-02-03T00:03:56","date_gmt":"2012-02-03T05:03:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/blissblog\/?p=2424"},"modified":"2012-02-03T07:47:20","modified_gmt":"2012-02-03T12:47:20","slug":"bringing-out-the-best","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2012\/02\/bringing-out-the-best.html","title":{"rendered":"Bringing Out The Best"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/blissblog\/files\/2012\/02\/fireworks-clipart-free.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-2427\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/107\/2012\/02\/fireworks-clipart-free-300x240.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"240\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In my work as a therapist, I have been both gratified with the healing work couples are willing to do when letting love lead the session and frustrated and disheartened at times when there is so much animosity swirling around. There have been\u00a0sessions when I have wished for a broom and disinfectant to sweep out and clean up all the metaphorical viscera spilled and venom spewed on the floor. Recently, I have had my share of each. I much prefer the first.<\/p>\n<p>It occurred to me that no matter what type of relationship I find myself in, whether with a partner, friend, my son, co-workers or strangers I happen to even briefly encounter, there is one thing that those I choose to remain with have in common. Having that person in my life will bring out the\u00a0highest in me. When I am with them, think about them, talk to them or about them, I am at my best. A few years ago, while in a dysfunctional relationship that lasted 4 months (in retrospect 3 months and 3 weeks too long), a friend asked me &#8220;Where did your joy go?\u00a0&#8221; She saw that I had invested\u00a0120 days or so\u00a0of my life in a toxic relationship. Although there were a few positive aspects of our time together, much of my sparkle was being drained away. Once I left, I lit up again and became\u00a0a human sparkler once more.<\/p>\n<p>I see many people who stay in unhappy and unhealthy relationships out of obligation or fear of being alone or that they won&#8217;t be able to make solo decisions or &#8220;for the sake of the children.&#8221;\u00a0 It&#8217;s my perception that children thrive in a loving environment and deteriorate in a setting in which conflict abounds, regardless of whether it is a two parent or single parent home. I have people in my life who have not had the greatest role models for what a loving, thriving relationship can look like, so they emulate their parents&#8217; patterns to the detriment of themselves and their children. The good news is that it is entirely possible to learn new ways of being.<\/p>\n<p>I invite you to take a good look at your relationships and boldly ask yourself if they bring out the best or worst in you. You deserve the best!\u00a0 Sparkle and shine.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/youtu.be\/w_kjNKuLy7A\">http:\/\/youtu.be\/w_kjNKuLy7A<\/a> Love Song by Ronan Hardiman<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; In my work as a therapist, I have been both gratified with the healing work couples are willing to do when letting love lead the session and frustrated and disheartened at times when there is so much animosity swirling around. There have been\u00a0sessions when I have wished for a broom and disinfectant to sweep&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":233,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,12,13,8,3,22,4,7,38],"tags":[1424,4843,1422,1423],"class_list":["post-2424","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-attracting-what-you-desire","category-bliss-kiss-for-your-weekend","category-blissfull-thinking","category-communication","category-gratitude","category-healing","category-inspiration","category-re-creating-your-life","category-transformation","tag-love-song","tag-relationships","tag-ronan-hardiman","tag-solas"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Bringing Out The Best - The Bliss Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2012\/02\/bringing-out-the-best.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bringing Out The Best - The Bliss Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"&nbsp; In my work as a therapist, I have been both gratified with the healing work couples are willing to do when letting love lead the session and frustrated and disheartened at times when there is so much animosity swirling around. There have been\u00a0sessions when I have wished for a broom and disinfectant to sweep&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2012\/02\/bringing-out-the-best.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Bliss Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/snuggleyoga\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-02-03T05:03:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-02-03T12:47:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/blissblog\/files\/2012\/02\/fireworks-clipart-free-300x240.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Edie Weinstein, MSW, LSW\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@EdieWeinstein1\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Bringing Out The Best - The Bliss Blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2012\/02\/bringing-out-the-best.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Bringing Out The Best - The Bliss Blog","og_description":"&nbsp; In my work as a therapist, I have been both gratified with the healing work couples are willing to do when letting love lead the session and frustrated and disheartened at times when there is so much animosity swirling around. There have been\u00a0sessions when I have wished for a broom and disinfectant to sweep&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2012\/02\/bringing-out-the-best.html","og_site_name":"The Bliss Blog","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/snuggleyoga","article_published_time":"2012-02-03T05:03:56+00:00","article_modified_time":"2012-02-03T12:47:20+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/blissblog\/files\/2012\/02\/fireworks-clipart-free-300x240.jpg"}],"author":"Edie Weinstein, MSW, LSW","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@EdieWeinstein1","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2012\/02\/bringing-out-the-best.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2012\/02\/bringing-out-the-best.html","name":"Bringing Out The Best - The Bliss Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2012\/02\/bringing-out-the-best.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2012\/02\/bringing-out-the-best.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/blissblog\/files\/2012\/02\/fireworks-clipart-free-300x240.jpg","datePublished":"2012-02-03T05:03:56+00:00","dateModified":"2012-02-03T12:47:20+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/#\/schema\/person\/edcd643a643a9ca91adb1e8f9e177386"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2012\/02\/bringing-out-the-best.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2012\/02\/bringing-out-the-best.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2012\/02\/bringing-out-the-best.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/blissblog\/files\/2012\/02\/fireworks-clipart-free-300x240.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/blissblog\/files\/2012\/02\/fireworks-clipart-free-300x240.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2012\/02\/bringing-out-the-best.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Bringing Out The Best"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/","name":"The Bliss Blog","description":"Beliefnet Voices - Edie Weinstein","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/#\/schema\/person\/edcd643a643a9ca91adb1e8f9e177386","name":"Edie Weinstein, MSW, LSW","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/0d6\/0d6cd7619da51a9a40cc705280e88f9cx96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/0d6\/0d6cd7619da51a9a40cc705280e88f9cx96.jpg","caption":"Edie Weinstein, MSW, LSW"},"description":"Edie Weinstein, MSW, LSW is a colorfully creative journalist, inspiring transformational speaker, licensed social worker, interfaith minister, editor, radio host, BLISS coach, event producer, Cosmic Concierge, the author of The Bliss Mistress Guide To Transforming The Ordinary Into The Extraordinary and co-author of Embraced By the Divine: The Emerging Woman\u2019s Gateway to Power, Passion and Purpose. She has also contributed to several anthologies and personal growth books. Edie has interviewed such notables as Ram Dass, Wayne Dyer, Debbie Ford, don Miguel Ruiz, don Miguel Ruiz, Jr. Marianne Williamson, Grover Washington, Jr. Noah Levine, Shirley MacLaine, Dennis Weaver, Ben and Jerry and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. She calls herself an Opti-mystic who sees the world through the eyes of possibility. Edie is the founder of Hug Mobsters Armed With Love, which offers FREE HUGS events on a planned and spontaneous basis. www.opti-mystical.com.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.opti-mystical.com","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/snuggleyoga","https:\/\/x.com\/EdieWeinstein1"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/author\/eweinstein"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2424","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/233"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2424"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2424\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2431,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2424\/revisions\/2431"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}