Sadly, I’m somewhere past Stage 8 already…except for the Dukes of Hazzard movie (gag me with J. Simpson’s ex-husband!). However, I hope that this is where the stages break down. Step 9 and 10 don’t seem like very good experiences either. In fact, the whole system described is very bleak to me. I know that stage 10 is supposed to present the most mature stage – acceptance of others’ imperfections – but the way Kimball has written it sounds too much like “settling” for something unsatisfactory and just learning to “deal.” Where is the resurgence of joy? That’s a stage I would be most interested in finding.

In short, I think reading Kimball’s stages is useful, but I think that any real progress might require an individual to tear it up and start over – re-writing our own ending from the more mature perspective we’ve acquired.

Thanks for sharing Kimball’s post.

I think with as far as our journey experience, we or I am in stage two!