The Circle of Life -- The Zodiac Signs and the New Moon's Journey
By
Rebecca Brents

Sometimes getting the right answer means asking the right question.

Life is full of hints, signs, and advice ... if you know where to look and what you're looking for.

Astrology and Tarot are tools that blend free will and useful information into new dimensions of thought ... so you can discover your best options. But the choice to act is always yours.

Work with all your possibilities.

Join our
Astrology and Tarot
Premium Membership
TODAY!!

Astrology Coaching
Live Your Life by Divine Design

Learn in detail about your character, the way you were built to operate, the life you were meant to live, how you were designed to support yourself with money, in relationships, and with work that honors the unique spirit you are.

Is This Your Year of Living Prosperously?

Take a journey through your birth chart as never before.

Real Astrology ...
for people who take
their lives seriously.

Enroll in
Astrology Coaching
TODAY!!

The Tarot Court Cards: Archetypal Patterns of Relationship in the Minor Arcana
By
Kate Warwick-Smith

Our Premium Members get

Readings ~ Classes

Lectures ~ Articles

Ezines ~ Oracles

And More!!

For people who take
their lives seriously.

Join our
Premium Membership
TODAY!!

	Can Men Join the Family? by Mark Brandenburg, MA, CPCC Mark Brandenburg
Astrology, Tarot, and Self Improvement for the New Age.

    Email This Page to a Friend    

Can Men Join the Family?
by Mark Brandenburg, MA, CPCC

Hear our Sound Bite

Why Learn the Tarot?

One of our
Tarot Lectures
In The Auditorium

Real Tarot ...
when you're ready to
hear all your mind's wisdom

I needed a screwdriver. Passing the bag of recycled cans on the steps, I went straight to the tool shed in the garage and claimed my screwdriver. "Why would you walk right by this bag of cans and not take it out to the garage?" my wife shrieked.

"Well, I was thinking about the screwdriver and didn't notice the cans," I said defensively.

As my wife left the area shaking her head, I knew that I was guilty of a specific offense -- being male. You see, we males are interested in goals and tasks to be done. When we have a task, very little is allowed to get in the way. It's a trait shared by most males, and one that drives many wives to the brink of insanity.

This fundamental difference in men and women is the source of most of the conflicts that occur between husbands and wives in our country today. He focuses on tasks to be done and individual goals, and she focuses on the relationships in the family, or what needs arise for the family as a whole. Both sides believe that they have the same priorities -- to help the family. But when each side is coming from such a vastly different perspective, conversations can fall apart in a matter of moments.

"What more does she want?" I used to say to myself. "I'm doing all these things around the house!" What she really wanted was for me to pay closer attention to the family as a whole. She wanted me to think about whether lunches were packed for the next day and whether our daughter should be playing soccer or some other activity. She wanted me to think about a better system in the morning to get the kids off to school. And yes, she wanted me to take out the recycling bags when I was on my way out the door anyway.

As a father and husband, I've seen the value in seeing the family from the "whole" perspective. I feel better able to stay close to the lives of my kids. My wife appreciates the help and feels like she has a "partner" in the family. My kids see what a loving relationship really looks like. And in a country with a divorce rate of around 50%, modeling a committed relationship to your kids is an incredible gift. There may be no other thing you can do for your kids that will have as much influence.

If you're a husband and father who's interested in figuring out the needs of your family, rather than what tasks need to be done, here are some ideas:

• Start by just trying to use a "needs of the family" focus for one day. See what changes happen for you, and go from there. Sometimes all you need is a starting point.

• Take account of the areas where you need to improve (your wife will help you identify them quickly!). These might be spending more time in planning for the family, time with the kids, etc.

• Write down the ways in which you may be diverting your time and energy away from being more involved in the needs of your family. This might be TV, golf, work that isn't absolutely necessary, etc.

• Find a way to shift from the goal--directed mode at work to the needs--directed mode at home. Use the drive home to make this shift. Start by thinking of questions you can ask your family and what your family might need.

Men aren't to blame for the problems in American families today. But they do have opportunities to make their family life better and more fulfilling. They have a chance to improve the lives of everyone in their family by taking the risk that all family men face: the risk of being intimately involved in their family. The risk of being incompetent and messy at things they're not good at. And diving into a place where there's nothing to "fix."

American families don't need "men as islands" anymore. They need men who are willing to join with their families in a way they may never have learned.

And if they have the courage to learn this new way, I don't think their families are going to mind a few mistakes.

Mark Brandenburg MA, CPCC, coaches parents by phone to balance their life and improve their family relationships.

He is an Instructor for the Academy for Coaching Parents, and author of "Secrets of Emotionally Intelligent Fathers" Ecourse.

Mark's Ebooks and Courses

The only real security is not in owning or possessing, not in demanding or expecting, not in hoping, even. Security in a relationship lies neither in looking back to what it was, nor forward to what it might be, but living in the present and accepting it as it is now.
~ Anne Morrow Lindbergh ~
Born June 22, 1906

Please click on the titles to visit these fine areas of Enchanted Spirit

---

	PO Box 1080 Sandia Park · NM · 87047

Enchanted Spirit is a non-denominational spiritual center of healing, support, self-improvement, personal guidance, education and writing. We publish multi-media works of New Age thought and information to encourage serenity and growth in individual life choices, advance the universal search for life's meaning, and promote tolerance for positive ideas from all philosophies and religious traditions, believing as we do that truth is where you find it.

---

This site is hosted and maintained for Enchanted Spirit by

Catweasel Ink

Copyright © 1999 - 2008 by Enchanted Spirit and Catweasel Ink.
Contributed works copyright by their respective authors. All rights reserved.
Unauthorized reproduction specifically prohibited.

Last updated February 4th, 2005

Rebecca is not available
right now.


Please check back
later
CLICK HERE FOR
MORE INFO

Astrology is for Believers.

With Real Astrology as your compass, you can recognize what's right for you, work with your natural gifts and rhythms, understand the dynamics of your relationships, and take your place more easily in Life's natural flow.

Real Astrology ...
for people who take
their lives seriously.

Join our
Astrology and Tarot
Premium Membership
TODAY!!

Cut through the confusion.

See clearly

Think better

Make informed choices

Discover why the Tarot has intrigued, informed, and interested spiritual seekers for centuries.

What is your life''s biggest question?

Get a reading on Your Situation

Join our
Astrology and Tarot
Premium Membership
TODAY!!

The Celtic Spirit : Daily Meditations for the Turning Year
By
Caitlin Matthews