Taking a break

From my Sunday night schoolwork rush to post two quotes from a book I'm reading called "A Woman's Book of Life" by Joan Borysenko, PHD.

"If a young woman's boundaries are healthy she can differ from another person in likes, behaviors and habits without undue conflict. She doesn't need to conform to the other in order to feel safe from rejection and there is no need to force the other to conform to her. The mutual respect of self and other is the cornerstone of intimacy, the prerequisite for mature love" (p. 74).

"A woman who has not yet resolved the developmental dilemma "how can I get my own needs met without being selfish towards others?" may give herself away to a man, honoring his opinions, needs and desires without considering her own. The result is that she loses herself in the relationship rather than growing through it." (97-98).

She also raises an interesting point about anorexia in preteens - potentially a reaction to fear of reaching sexual maturity - because everyone knows that by dropping below a normal threshold of weight and fat delays the onset of puberty. A point I'd not considered, but certainly a valid one.

It's an interesting read, and goes through all the phases of a woman's life, both mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually from birth to death. Not too academic (boring) and easy on the old eyeballs.