I broke my golden handcuffs and never looked back.

A few years ago my marriage was heading toward divorce. I spent years trying to change my husband, until I realized the only person I could change was me. When I changed how I handled conflict, our whole relationship started to shift.

I owned the big house. The big garage. The really good paycheque. I call it the golden handcuffs, because from the outside it looked like success and from the inside it felt like being locked in.

And I was miserable — the kind of miserable that's hard to explain, because on paper there was nothing to complain about. I had everything I was supposed to want, and I still woke up heavy. I went through the motions, kept the calendar full, smiled in the right places — and quietly felt like a guest in my own life. The better it looked, the worse it felt.

And for a long time my husband was the only person I blamed for my misery. Until I chose to try something new — healing from the inside out, changing my perspective — and my whole world changed. I am now more in love with my husband than I ever thought possible. We are dreaming together again, building together again, and found a deep, profound love.