W also told me about a long time co-worker who made big life changes. Recently quit his job of 30 years, to move out of state and get married. She admires him for being able to make a plan and move on with it... says she needs to do that soon or she'll end up 65 years old and stuck where she is. Did I mention co-worker is a gay male, marrying a female for insurance and convenience? He's a big FB'er and W is looking forward to following his updates.
As usual, I validated and encouraged her to keep talking.
At some level, I would think your W understands or acknolwedges the problems with this? I notice that my W's GF who is a single, unemployeed alcoholic gives my wife YOLO type of advice, that my W tends to ignore. In fact, many of my W's friends have told her that she could go back to medical school. None of these friends seem to discuss the implications of leaving your family and children for so many years.
Anyway, I think my point is that I would think your W realizes how crazy this is, and while she says she admires him, she probably also sees that she couldn't do the same thing.
I do think this is where validating pays big dividends. Maybe she'll just forget?
