SANITY SAVERS: Tips for Women to Live A Balanced Life is in bookstores and is filled with suggestions to save your sanity every day of the year.

A must for any woman seeking to find her balance!

As we transition from summer to fall, it is helpful to focus on keeping ourselves healthy. Seasonal changes often affect people physically, emotionally, as well as spiritually. Be conscious of your physical, mental, and emotional responses as you shift from your "summer mode" into fall.

Unreasonable expectations (ours or someone else's) can interfere with our taking care of ourselves in ways that we may have discovered benefited us during the summer. Perhaps you discovered that by reserving a few extra moments to lie in bed you were able to consciously consider that which you are grateful for. You may have discovered, this past summer, that you enjoyed a pace that was just slow enough to notice that which usually eludes you during the rest of the year. Or maybe you made an effort to really listen to those people who are important to you. During this summer you may have even turned off your BlackBerry and cell phone during meals, story time, or while watching a movie with the family.

Understand that during any transition you will likely feel different from how you normally feel. Allow yourself to listen to what is going on within. Quiet yourself and just pay attention. Change can contribute to a sense of uneasiness. You may feel anxious or exuberant or any and all feelings along the spectrum. Change and transition are challenges and opportunities. Although you may feel hesitant about what lies ahead, know that you can develop a positive, "can do" attitude which will help you go forward or deal with whatever is on your plate.

TODAY Show (NBC)
Sept. 3, 9:15AM: Helping Friends Get Out of Abusive Relationships. Please check website, www.drdaleatkins.com, for updates.

See Dr. Atkins' and E. Mencher's article, Are You a Buttinsky?, in Reform Judaism Magazine, Fall 2009/5769, pg. 8. www.reformjudaismmag.org. There is also a complimentary discussion guide offering thoughtful questions for conversation.

See Dr. Atkins' article, Sanity Savers for a Balanced Life, in Black Tie Magazine, Volume 7, Issue 1, pg. 64. www.blacktiemagazine.com

Hear Dr. Atkins on the radio show, The M Word, hosted by Lori Sackler, WOR News Talk Radio 710, Sunday evenings 9:30PM EST.

Reviewing Your Day

At the end of every day, spend a few minutes looking back on what you did, what went well, what went wrong, what you will do differently if you have a second chance. Review your goals and the progress (or lack thereof) you've made.

No day is perfect, but you can learn from every situation. Do not forget to acknowledge and celebrate your successes. A journal would be a great way to capitalize best on this daily review.

For our aging parents, there is often a huge gap between what is perceived as a crucial "need" and what is a "want." Parents' demands can trigger elemental fears. - the looming specter of their mortality, the scary knowledge that a parent's decline brings us a step closer to our own old age. By facing these fears we can defuse them and put ourselves back in control, enabling us to negotiate and set necessary limits with our aging parents.

You can find the appropriate balance for you with doing too much and not doing enough for your parents. Consider the following tips:

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."

Martin Luther King Jr.