Ovr, we had a 4 hour joint therapy session last Sunday.
FSolo, I agree entirely with your view that internalizing opportunities for growth versus externalizing blame is key to finding sustainable joy. And like you, I don't know how long I will have the stamina to wait this out.
After last Sunday's marathon session, I asked the therapist, "How long does one hold on to hope?" Her reply works for me: "As long as it is life affirming, rather than just coping."
In the same way that W has hit a phase where she is trying to define herself, I am also defining who I am in how I respond. To me, the holocaust survivor, Viktor Frankl, is the exemplar of how I can create meaning--and thereby derive some small solace--from life's most agonizing moments.
