Pain is to not progress worse pain is to regress as trumper is doing.

I can testify to that.

I have felt like this for the past 5 years. I realized after moving back to Texas from Nebraska that I had made a terrible mistake, and put my poor husband through the hell that is Texas for the last years of his life. I wanted to be near my sons and grandkids. I am making plans for change......

Something I have noticed in my life is the "crab bucket" phenomenon. When one crab tries to crawl out of the bucket, the other crabs pull it down. People are the same, sometimes. When you are trying to change it's uncomfortable for them, so they try to pull you back into the role that they are comfortable with. Change is hard not just because we struggle with ourselves, but because we struggle with others' images of us.

You got that right! Am glad of all the paths I have taken, some were quite hard but not nearly as hard as being stuck somewhere that wasn't right for me.

Ain't that the truth!

Definitely. I knew I'd occasionally get lonely living by myself, but I'd rather be lonely because I'm actually alone than with a spouse in the same room.