MKAC, have you ever worked with a client who has had one crappy thing happen to them over and over, and who seems to have few resources to cope, and seems to make one poor choice after another, resulting in a chain of sh*tstorms?

And then you start to know them better, and you start to realize that they are like that children's story of the stone soup, that they are actually taking what little they have and are figuring out how to get little bits of other things they need, and they are actually clever in how they manage to get it, and that they are gradually squirreling away enough resources to make something pretty impressive? That ultimately, this person that you thought was pretty pathetic turned into somebody who you realized did so much with so little, and was so dogged and determined in trying to reach her goal that once you'd seen her through enough time and circumstances, you saw her as someone that was strong?

I think when you can really look objectively at that kid and understand the circumstances, it's not always what it seems. Finding your compassion for that kid is not just about finding compassion in the abstract, it is what naturally will develop if you allow yourself to see who that kid really was, and who she is now.