BLOG
I started my journey of blogging in 2003 — mostly to capture what I called “transitioning life’s journey”.
In 2023 I took a 3 year break from blogging, but have decided to return to it. I hope you enjoy.
Explore by Topic
Search 20+ years of blog writing…
Rhett Smith Podcast 42: How the Pain and Peace Cycle Will Lead You to ‘USness’ and Help You Solve Problems in Your Relationship
As I have mentioned in the previous podcast blog posts, I am spending time talking about the Pain and Peace Cycle, and the 4 steps to practice it in your life. These tools are found in the work of Marriage and Family therapist pioneer Terry Hargrave and his Restoration Therapy model. As I talk about […]
Rhett Smith Podcast 41: Transform Your Relationship Through the Practice of Your Pain and Peace Cycle
This week I am spending time talking about the Pain and Peace Cycle found in the work of Terry Hargrave and his Restoration Therapy model. As I talk about previous episodes, the Pain Cycle and the Peace Cycle have transformed my life, marriage, relationships, friendships, and work. It too can transform you, your relationships, your […]
Rhett Smith Podcast 40: Learning to Regulate Your Emotions by Identifying Your Peace Cycle
In the previous podcast episode I talked about just how life transforming the Pain and Peace Cycle work have been to my life both personally and relationally. Ever since I learned these tools when I went on staff at The Hideaway Experience in 2010 I have continued to use them in all the work I […]
Rhett Smith Podcast 39: How Violations of Love and Trust Construct Your Pain Cycle
One of the tools that has changed my life in such an amazing way…that at times it’s really hard to explain…is learning the Pain and Peace Cycle in the work of Terry Hargrave in his Restoration Therapy model. In fact, in Episode 21 of this podcast I talked about how it can change your life, […]
Rhett Smith Podcast 38: The Daily Practice of Giving Thanks, Living in Gratitude, and Experiencing Grace
I have tried over the years to do a better job of giving thanks daily and living in gratitude. But like many of you I struggle. It would seem that I would have starts and stops, and then I would get excited about it again when a holiday like Thanksgiving rolled around to remind me […]
Rhett Smith Podcast 37: 5 Relational Skills That Will Radically Improve Your Marriage
This last week my wife and I spent two days training with Sharon Hargrave in her Marriage Strong curriculum. There were several reasons why we wanted to attend the training: 1) We know how much working through our Pain and Peace Cycle has transformed our own marriage; 2) We have a desire to lead these […]
Rhett Smith Podcast 36: 3 Messages Life-Giving Men Communicate to Others (especially their sons)
Imagine you are in a room and two different type of men walk in. One is encouraging, inspiring and vulnerable. He’s not just there physically, but he has shown up emotionally as well. He’s connected to those around him. And because he shows up this way, others will feed off that and grow. He’s what […]
Rhett Smith Podcast 35: How to Navigate the Morning Routine in Different Stages of Life (Follow Up to Episode #34)
In the last episode (Rhett Smith Podcast 34: Nine Practices and Disciplines That Will Help You Transform Your Morning Routine) I talked at length about my morning routine and the nine disciplines and practices that accompany (on most good days). But in that episode I didn’t address a couple of very important issues, even though […]
Rhett Smith Podcast 34: Nine Practices and Disciplines That Will Help You Transform Your Morning Routine
It seems to me that how I start my day off…especially the first 1-2 hours, often dictates how the rest of my day goes, or to what degree I will navigate the ups and downs of it successfully. And I’m not alone in thinking this. It’s not surprising that many of the podcasts I listen […]
Rhett Smith Podcast 33: Jesus Baptism, Wrestling with God, and Exploring What it Means to Live in Your Truth
There are two stories in the Bible that have gripped my imagination for the last 5-6 years. One is the story of Jesus at his baptism, specifically in the gospel of Mark 1:9-11, which records the voice of God the Father in Heaven declaring to his son Jesus (while the Spirit is descending like a […]
Rhett Smith Podcast 32: Support Teams, Living Unbalanced, Investing in Others (and other lessons from a 50 mile trail run)
This last week was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I’m still processing it and will for much time to come. But as I talked about in Episode 30 of this podcast, I set out last February to redefine my success as showing up, rather than just achieving a goal. And in […]
Rhett Smith Podcast 31: How Desires Such as Sex and Food Can Become ‘Disordered’ and Negatively Impact our Relationships — with Divinity Professor, Ethicist & Theologian, Dr. Cameron Jorgenson
I have been looking forward to having Dr. Cameron Jorgenson on my podcast for a long time. Dr. Jorgenson is one of the smartest and most thoughtful people that I know, and so it was with great anticipation that I had him on this week’s episode. But first a little backstory. I first met Dr. […]
Rhett Smith Podcast 30: If You Want to Grow in Life, You Must ‘Show Up’, Risk Failure, and Reframe Success
About 8 months ago I was looking for a new challenge in life. I felt like I had begun to play life a little too safe, and was starting to get too comfortable…you know the type of comfortable where you start making excuses for taking risks? The type of comfortable where you stop challenging yourself? […]
Rhett Smith Podcast 29: Women and Anger, Our Breath in Grounding Us, and Brene Brown’s The Daring Way Training — with Psychotherapist and Yogi, Jessica Pass
I’m always super excited to bring guests on to my podcast and introduce you to new people and the amazing work they are doing. And Jessica Pass is one of those amazing people that I have been wanting to bring on for a while. I first met Jessica in August of 2005 when we both […]
Rhett Smith Podcast 28: How Your Family of Origin Impacts You Today in Both Positive and Negative Ways
One of the most powerful and life shaping influences in our lives is our family of origin. It is the primary context in which we develop, and that development continues on through the rest of our lives…this is the reason I decided to talk about this topic on this weeks podcast. Lots of people that […]
Rhett Smith Podcast 27: Mastering the Art of Trust — with Artist, Author, and Craftsmen, Aubrey McGowan
“The people who are having the greatest impact are the people who have heaps of this one thing… Trust.” (Learning to Master the Art of Trust, pp. 1) You may recognize Aubrey’s name from episode 14 which was a very popular episode. In that episode we explored his family’s move to Tennessee from Texas last […]
Rhett Smith Podcast 26: Why Men Have a Hard Time Connecting to their Emotions and the Positive or Negative Role You Play in That Process
It is not unusual for me to be sitting across from a man in my therapy office as he relays to me the story about when he first learned that it was not okay for boys to cry. It is usually a very powerful moment. I have heard men of all ages and backgrounds tell […]
Rhett Smith Podcast 25: Running, Faith, and Looking for Opportunities Beyond Personal Bests and Finish Lines — with Runner and Blogger Melissa Martinez
I love to run. It’s one of my favorite things to do, and more recently I recorded a podcast episode on how running has changed my life. One of my bigger accomplishments was running my first 50k about a year and a half ago with my friend and neighbor Eric Fortner at the Ft. Worth […]
Rhett Smith Podcast 24: How Technology Shapes Us, Informs our Identity, and Some Boundaries We Can Implement as We Use It
I love technology. It has absolutely shaped my life in some amazing ways in the last 12 years especially. Technology can encompass all kinds of things, but the technology I’m primarily speaking about here have to do with computers, cell phones and social media. In fact, there was a season of my life for about […]
Rhett Smith Podcast 23: The Over-Scheduling of Kid’s Lives, the One Activity, Per Kid, Per Grading Period, and the Importance of Cultivating a Listening Relationship with Your Kids Early On — with Psychologist Dr. Neil Stafford
I know it’s a cliche and commonplace to say that you are “busy” when someone asks how you are doing. I find myself saying that a lot, and more recently I’ve tried to correct that by questioning why am I so busy? And do I like being busy and do I get something from it? […]