You're exactly right about the "bootstraps." They are what we can make of them through what we've experienced in the past and all the resources that are available to us, such as the friendly, caring people here on the boards, reading and allowing a professional to help us see the individual trees rather than the whole forest at once. The only catch is that each of us has to put out that effort of "pulling ourself up."

Thank you so much for your great insights! They've been a help to me as I struggle to "pull up." I, too, need a lot of repetition before it starts to sink in. Don't you think most of us are like that, though?