Your wife fell asleep on the couch and you went into despair. Everything is a failure and all is for naught. Nothing that has happened in the last few days makes any difference. It's just all a disaster.
hmmmm....this has happened before to you. Remember her falling asleep and you thinking how awful it was? Turned out she passed out from too much wine. Think there might be a little something in the way you process events, particularly in this area?
Even your keel out, bud. Go back to the event and keep it in perspective. She fell asleep on the couch. You make a comment about it being a defense mechanism and assume, based on some vague eye movement, that you're right even though she tells you you're wrong.
Quote: Once again, I'm sure I need to chill out and be patient. But I'm really on the verge of giving up.
Take your own advice. It's good stuff. Stop yourself BEFORE you journal your way into a self-fulfilling prophecy. She's working on it. Support her efforts and stop looking at every little thing as a sign of failure. You're being too vigilant and that's what causes pressure on her and a large part of your own discouragement.
Good advice from others about the list, etc.
Your wife IS motivated. Support her motivation. Don't undermine her or yourself by falling into despair over minor deviations from a pathway that is already headed in the right direction.
Even if you haven't shared your journaled feelings with her, YOU are still looking at the world through those kinds of feelings. They will affect what you see and how you see it. There could be some real success in your situation and you'll miss it because the little setbacks have a bigger effect on your thinking than the really significant successes.
