I won't dwell on any more points because they have already been made. If you want me to give you a break down of what I am seeing, I will, but it's fairly the same as others have pointed out.
GAL is very important, I won't deny that. It is crucial in the beginning stages because it doesn't allow the LBS to focus on wallowing in self-pity and victimization. GAL should still continue but it's purpose changes over time.
What I want to focus on is this - what are you doing for your personal development? And by that I mean, your character, your habits, your personality.
I remember saying at one point to you - forget her and go deep within yourself. What are you finding when you do that? Are you happy with the person you are currently? Even if the answer is yes, do you not see any areas of growth within yourself?
Outside of GAL, that is the single most important thing I would say you should focus on. Can you pick up new skills for work? Can you pick up better communication skills? Can you become better at using tools, technology etc? Whatever it is, you need to focus on that now.
The more laser focused you become on this stuff and put yourself in a continuous learning environment and mindset, there is no room for your W in your headspace. She will stop taking over mental real estate over time. I know this from experience.
I'll pick one example about something we share as an activity to do - climbing. I didn't just use climbing as a GAL. Well, initially I did, but it quickly changed as soon as I realized its mental benefits for me. I didn't want to just climb for fun, but I wanted to become an elite climber and started scaling my grade levels.
I started watching videos on techniques and then going to each climbing session with a mission to practice. I started watching videos of other climbers to learn from them. I started reading about it. I put all my energy into that and consumed content because I was learning from it. With my injury, I am out right now, but every night, I visualize a climbing grade that I had been working on and start unpacking that puzzle and mentally thinking about my feet and hands and how I was moving on the wall.
In short, I took my mental energy and put it into something I really wanted to learn and become better at. I've recently started photography and I've put all my energy into that as well. I want to learn new things and not just for fun, but to gain mastery.
With photography, I am taking free online courses - you can find tons of stuff on youtube. Through work I have access to a learning portal that has awesome courses too. I am looking up photographers and their work; I am reading about ethics of photography; I am practicing with my phone camera; I couldn't afford an expensive camera and lenses, but I downloaded this app for free that gives me almost all the same controls as a DSLR on my phone.
Get into learning mode with the aim of achieving mastery. Don't give up on it. It will be hard but your energy is focused on that. I still do GAL because I like to have fun and enjoy life, but I don't let my mind go to waste. I follow tons of climbers and photographers on IG and am constantly consuming their content to achieve mastery.
Take complete ownership of your life and mind. The other thing that has helped me is that I've stopped complaining. I choose to take a wider perspective on any issue and life and understand what I can control and cannot. And with what I can control, I can do so much.
So make a decision of if you're going to let your W and your past control you or you're going to step out and grow as a person and truly put in the time and energy to learn. We all have time. As I told you once, I had mapped out my day and saw how many hours I had that I could've used. And once I saw that, I changed it all up.
Don't just GAL. Go and become a master at something.
