Teen Social Anxiety: True Story About Fear, Movement & One Brave Yes

Teen social anxiety - sad girl sitting by a window

I met Zara’s parents, Annie, and Dan, at a parenting workshop I ran in their remote hometown. Over 60 parents crowded into a small school hall, tired, worried, and hopeful. That night, I shared a true story about children’s dysfunctional ways of seeking love and attention—and about how parents struggle too. How we must take care of ourselves if we want to care for our children. There were lots of crying parents there.

That workshop ended after 9pm, but the conversations didn’t. Parents stayed, queued patiently, and waited to talk to me personally. Annie and Dan came to me after 11pm. Annie was teary and barely able to speak. Dan gently touched her arm, grounding her.

Their daughter, Zara, was 16. She hadn’t been to school for over a year. She didn’t leave the house. What they were facing had a name many parents know too well: teen social anxiety.

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The Power of Silence: Benefits for Emotional Wellbeing

benefits of silence for emotional well-being quiet reflection

Silence is one of the rarest experiences in modern life. We fill every empty moment with sound — podcasts, conversations, notifications, background noise, busy thoughts. Yet the power of silence and the benefits of silence for emotional wellbeing are enormous, and most people don’t realise how deeply quiet moments can change their mental and emotional landscape.

As parents, partners, and individuals navigating a noisy world, we often forget that silence is not the absence of life — it is the space where life is processed. It’s where the brain recalibrates, the heart slows down, and emotions finally have room to breathe.

Let’s explore the power of silence and the benefits of silence for emotional wellbeing, why silence affects the brain so powerfully, and how small shifts in daily quiet time can transform relationships, parenting, resilience, and clarity.

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The True Meaning of Love: Personal Evolution of the Heart

Couple relaxing representing loving relationship

What is love?

It sounds like one of those questions that should have a simple answer. And yet, when we truly sit with it, we realise how complex, layered, and deeply personal it is. Over the years, I have discussed love with almost every one of my clients—sometimes directly, sometimes hidden inside conversations about relationships, parenting, grief, happiness, or self-worth.

The true meaning of love is not a definition we memorise. It is something we grow into. Something we peel back, layer by layer, experience by experience.

Many definitions of love sound like clichés. And I often wonder—are clichés empty, or are they simply truths that are so powerful, they had to be repeated until we stopped listening?

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Why Embracing Darkness Helps Families Grow

Person wrapped in a cloack sitting in the dark with their face lit

There’s something magical about the New Year. Even if nothing changes overnight, the calendar flips and suddenly we feel a tiny spark — a chance to start again.

But if the last few years have taught me anything, it’s this: Life doesn’t get lighter because we avoid the darkness. It gets lighter when we learn to walk through it with open eyes.

The last several years were a bit dark for me. This New Year, I want to explore the idea of embracing darkness, not as something scary or unwanted, but as something deeply useful — even beautiful — in our emotional, physical, and family life.

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Weeds to Flowers: How a Shift in Perspective Can Transform Your Health and parenting

Most of us move through life reacting automatically to what shows up in front of us. Something happens — the scale goes up, a cold sets in, we overeat after a stressful day — and immediately we label it: bad, wrong, a setback, a failure.

And once we label something, our mind jumps into its usual story.

– “I messed up again.”
– “I shouldn’t feel this way.”
– “This shouldn’t be happening.”
– “What’s wrong with me?”

We don’t even notice that we’re doing it.

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Breaking the Generational Disability of Love: How to Teach Your Children to Feel Truly Loved

Love heart phrases to stop the Generational Disability of Love

We all know that warm, melting feeling when someone says, “I love you.” Three simple words, yet they reach every cell of our body like sunlight warming a cold room. We crave hearing them, and if we’re confident enough, we enjoy saying them too.

Love nourishes us — research shows that love strengthens our immune system, increases happiness, expands longevity, and even impacts financial wellbeing. The greatest thing in life is simply to love and be loved in return.

But here’s the strange, painful truth…

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The Emotional Cost of FOMO: How Fear of Missing Out Steal Your Happiness

I decided to write about FOMO (Fear of missing out) because I’ve seen it quietly affect adults as much as teenagers — parents, grandparents, professionals, anyone who scrolls through social media or compares themselves to others.

We all want our children to be happy, successful, and confident, but sometimes, we forget to nurture our own sense of contentment. FOMO steals your happiness and I want to help you recognize FOMO understand its impact, and take practical steps to reclaim joy, confidence, and peace of mind.

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Alternatives to Punishment: Positive Discipline for Happier, Stronger Kids

From early human history, punishment has been a dominant tool used by parents, educators, and governments. Most of us grow up with the belief that people act based on two main motivations — pain or pleasure. The classic “carrots and sticks” model seems to govern human behaviour, and for many families, this model continues to shape the way children are raised. There are alternatives to punishment.

Punishment is not simply a behavioural tool. Punishment is a manipulation strategy, often disguised as “teaching a lesson.” We use it to make others behave in a way that suits us, even when we say it is for their own good. When we punish children, we attempt to arrange life to meet our needs — not theirs.

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Kindness to Yourself: The Secret to Raising Happy, Resilient Kids

Woman holding a red heart decoration for kindness day

Last week was World Kindness Day, and every year, when the date comes around, I can’t help but smile. But I also can’t help thinking, Why only one day? If there’s anything families need right now, it’s more kindness — not just for others, but especially kindness to yourself.

In my coaching work at Be Happy in Life and in the countless conversations I’ve had with parents over the years, this theme keeps coming up again and again. Parents want their kids to be confident, happy, and emotionally strong — but they forget that the journey starts with the emotional environment inside themselves.

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The Art of Being: Teach & Inspire by Living Authentically

Living authentically - grandmother and granddaughter on a nature walk

Three years ago, someone asked me, “If you could teach anything, what would it be?”

Honestly, the question caught me off guard. I didn’t have an answer. It’s such a big question that it’s been stuck in my head ever since.

You see, I’ve been a teacher for 38 years. My whole career has been teaching special education and focusing on emotional intelligence. I’ve always loved helping people find their strengths and use them to navigate life with happiness, health and success.

But in all those years, I never stopped to ask myself, “What would I teach if I could choose anything?” I didn’t think I needed to. I was just Ronit, the teacher, doing what I do best.

That question changed things for me and took me through a process of discovery. It made me think about life, about what I’ve learned, and what I really want to give to the world. Maybe by sharing the process of my discovery about the art of being, I can help you think about your own answers too.

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