Kath, your words are both helpful and inspiring, it means so much that you took the time to read and respond! Everything you said really resonated with me, but that 4th point got me right in the gut. I do tend to have high expectations (sometimes unnecessarily so) and I think it’s off-putting to other people as well as detrimental to me. In discerning between the good fights and the extraneous little skirmishes–is there some kind of rule of thumb that you know of? Something that I can use to force myself to back down when becoming frustrated/stubborn? I’ve been working on many of the other points, but as you said, rearranging one’s own psyche is trying of both patience and perseverance.

Your compassion and willingness to help instills a hope in me, and your comment is more helpful than you know! Cheers, here’s to forging on 🙂

-Gastronaut