By BARTON GOLDSMITH, Scripps Howard News Service

The process of intimacy is about so much more than sex. The analogy could be made that your physical relationship is the whipped cream on the sundae of your life together. Sexual intimacy can enhance a relationship and perhaps even save it in a time of severe crisis.

I've learned a lot from the mothers in my life, my own and the mothers of others whom I've known. I wouldn't be where I am if not for their love and advice. Here are 10 things that a few of us have learned from moms:

May has been designated as Mental-Health Awareness Month. It helps us remember that we need to stay vigilant about our loved ones and ourselves when it comes to how we are feeling and dealing with our emotions.

People improve. I see it every day. And most of the time, they do it on their own. Therapy can help, but the old saying does prove true more times than not: To make it happen, you have to want to change.Seeing a therapist can be helpful, especially if the therapist is a good listener. Simply knowing that someone hears you is empowering, and that is a doorway to positive transition.

Intimacy, by its very nature, requires us to be vulnerable. Our partner, lover or mate can know us to our very core, sometimes better than we know ourselves, and that can make any of us feel totally exposed.Intimacy can be intimidating. But it is an amazingly freeing experience when you can be completely who you are with someone you totally trust.

Raising a child is a precious gift, but it also is a great challenge. Here are 10 tips to help ease the burden of getting your children to adulthood.1. Have dinner as a family as often as possible. This is the most effective method of keeping your kids on the positive track and away from negative activities.

I love my friends. I love that they are there for me, and I respect their advice. But in some cases, the advice of friends may not be as helpful as they or you would like it to be.

Sometimes, it seems, life can be best described as learning how to get from one problem to the next as gracefully as possible. For most of us, every day produces a variety of challenges. It's not how you look at it or what your attitude is; it's actually more about accepting that life is never going to be perfect.

How many times have you and a loved one felt like neither of you got what the other was saying? It is almost as though the two of you were having different discussions.It amazes me how differently two people can perceive a conversation, but the truth is this is a natural thing and we all do it.

It usually takes us much longer to change our moods than we'd like. Here are 10 things you can do in 10 minutes or less that will have a positive emotional effect on you and those you love.1. Watch "The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch. See it online at Oprah.com. This is a deeply moving segment that may be the best 10 minutes you've invested in front of a computer.