Am I As Crazy As Amazing Amy? Take The Test Here

You'll be getting back into the dating and relationship scene soon, if you haven't started already. My recent YourTango piece suggests a couple of cautions.

When "Gone Girl," the book, came out, friends wondered if I'd ever worked with anyone like the main character, psychopath Amy, aka, Amazing Amy. Not to be confused with the garden variety narcissist, the psychopath has a much darker side.

The narcissist will exploit anyone for their own gain, believes in their superiority to others in all things and is vain, self-involved and infuriatingly entitled…kind of like Amy's husband Nick.

Gillian Flynn's Amy has the hallmark signs of the psychopath—her outwardly normal appearance masks her utter lack of conventional morality and the absence of all concern for the welfare of others.

Now that the movie is out, I'm faced with the question again. In answer I decided to post my own questions, including the important one everyone asks themselves: Am I as crazy as Amy? You be the judge.

Have you ever:

1. Thought your partner might be cheating and:

a.       Looked through her phone—harmless enough, right? 

b.      Followed her— if she's got nothing to hide...

c.       Installed spyware on her phone—she'll never know.

d.      All of the above

Read more here...

Do You Have A Dark Passenger?

I know you're dealing with a lot-post-divorce. It is, however, an opportunity to take stock. Do you have a dark passenger? Sometimes it's our dark passenger that's "responsible" for our relationship problems. This post originally appeared in YourTango and it might be useful for your divorce recovery...

Late to the Dexter party, it was only this year that I inhaled all eight seasons after a free Showtime offer landed in my inbox. I started with a few episodes, the gateway to a full-blown addiction. 

Dexter's dark passenger was part of my fascination. What is a dark passenger exactly? Is it a secret, or more like a drive, or perhaps a secret drive? Does everyone have one lurking? Do I? More importantly—do you? 

For a long time I believe my nicotine addiction was my dark passenger. "It" made me sneak around and lie, things I would not normally do. When I was young and couldn't always afford to buy smokes, "it" made me steal cigarettes from an unsuspecting aunt's purse or money from my mother because she had no cigarettes to steal. 

The dark passenger changes you into a person even you don't quite know: liar, cheater, sneak, impostor, pretender. 

Read more here...

 

Post-Divorce Post-Infidelity Recovery Skills

In addition to coping with the post-divorce period, you may also be coping with the aftermath of infidelity and affairs in your relationship. Speed up your recovery from infidelity using self-care, resilience and optimism.

See my post on YourTango.

Happy listening with I'm Better Than I Used To Be, Tim McGraw