Hard to believe it has been ~ 2 months since my last update. Once more, I am happy to share that things continue to go well. Our MC is excellent. She is very fair and I suspect is also working specifically on W's anxiety issues and helping to resolve past trauma indirectly under the cover of our counseling. D14 is thriving at school in terms of grades, athletics, socially, and overall well-being. We both are making an effort to be clearer with what we need or want. We're having omre future-focused conversations (about retirement, home improvements, travel, etc.) than we've had in many years. W is still struggling when she thinks about interactiing with my mother as the holidays approach. MC is pushing W on why W continues to hang on to past, negative interactions and even suggested having my mother join a session to resolve whatever is between them (competition of for my attention - I guess that might be a different way of being the "prize"). W seems to be softening up a bit as the holidays approach and acknowledges she needs to speak up more as my SIL does by comparison (and my mom seems to back off/down when she crosses a boundary). Time will tell.

I'm continuing to focus on my well-being at the same time. All the DB work, and much of what MWD says in Change Your Life, has been beneficial across my life. Work, friendships, and other interactions all seem to be going more positively than I can recall before really putting this work in and re-shaping my habits. I'm also trying to help D14, my team, and other friends around me learn some of the MWD and solutions-based practices discussed here.

To those of you dealing with a recent bomb drop, facing a partner with a MLC, dealing with infidelity or mental health challenges, I want to emphasize the need to STAY THE COURSE. One way or the other, it will pay off. You can definitely emerge from the experience as an improved version and an increasingly better version of you can be. I recall how hopeless things felt (both times I've faced a potential D). With the pandemic, global crises, the election here in the U.S. - and all the usual challenges we can face in our daily lives, I recognize how overwhelming things may have gotten for you. Don't give up on yourself. This community remains available to support you. The wonderful author of these books and sponsor of this board....who many of us may never meet....continues to keep this website alive and accessible. Take advantage of it!

I hope to be more present on the board offering whatever help I can now that things are slowing down a bit as the holidays approach. I look forward to catching up with longer-term members, meeting new ones, and trying to pay forward the generosity that continues to exist here in our little corner of the web. Until next time....Mr P.