“Wow, this is good.”

That’s the first thought that popped into my head as I read Penelope Trunk’s blog about feeling lost (There’s No Magic Pill for Being Lost).  In actuality, the blog entry is much bigger than that; it’s about that sinking feeling you get when your personal life has unraveled, your career path is unsteady and you’re looking around wondering, “how did I get here?”

If you’re not familiar with Penelope Trunk or her blog, I say get thee there now.  She’s smart.  She’s launching start-ups.  She’s a mom.  And most importantly, she is very brave.  She’s what used to be called an “overshare-er,” but is now referred to as “transparent.”  Call it whatever you want, but she has artfully done what people always warn you not to, but secretly wish you would, so that there is at least someone addressing what we are all thinking and feeling.

***

“When I was in the mental ward, it was mostly girls in their teens with messed up track records and eating disorders. But my roommate was from Kellogg, a top-ten business school.

I thought it was insane that she was there. She was so smart. She was going to be great at work. Her only problem was that her fiancée had just broken off their engagement. I thought she would be fine—there are so many other men to be had. But before I could ask her to explain, she tried to electrocute herself in the bathtub, with a blow-drier, and she was moved to the high-security ward.

That has been on my mind as my relationship with the farmer has unraveled.”

Read the rest of There’s No Magic Pill For Being Lost.

How to Marry the Wrong Guy

***UPDATE 7/11/09 Check out the latest article on the book and learn more about the authors’ inspiration.  

I had the good fortune of meeting one of the co-writers of “How To Marrry the Wrong Guy: A Guide to Avoiding the Biggest Mistake of Your Life,” yesterday and we talked at great length about how necessary a book like this is.

The two women who wrote the book - and run the accompanying website - have first hand experience in affairs of the heart.  Anne Milford called off her wedding because deep down, she just knew it wasn’t right.  Jennifer Dauvain is a marriage and family therapist who has seen an all too-familiar scenario play out: woman marries man despite not feeling a deep love and passion for him.  Man and woman have problems (duh).  Man and woman head to therapists’ couch.  Marriage cannot be saved if there was nothing worth saving in the first place.

It doesn’t seem like rocket science, but these two women have interviewed enough wives (and now, ex-wives) to know that it’s happening a lot more often than we might think.  The silver lining here is that a bad marriage can be avoided.

If you can answer any of these questions positively, you NEED to read this book:

• Do you think you may be marrying the wrong guy?
• Do you have cold feet and want to call off your wedding?
• Do you have doubts about your boyfriend?
• Do you wonder why you’re settling for a dead-end relationship?

If you answered YES, a) be proud for being honest with yourself and b) consider today your lucky day, because www.coldfeetpress.com is offering a 25% discount to That Happened to Me readers.

Just go here and enter THTM (all caps, no spaces) as the coupon code.  Offer ends July 31.

Don’t say we didn’t warn you.