kjs,
Most definitely YES!!! I think all difficult children are works in progress, some just advance more quickly than others, but there is always hope, always room for improvement and change...
Before difficult child 1 left the "nest," I had major doubts whether or not he was going to make it on his own. Now, when I reflect back on difficult child 1's life, I'm amazed at the progress he has made. While he'll always be a difficult child in many ways, he is finally growing up, learning to be a responsible adult. He is doing what he wants to do with his life and if he keeps traveling down this path, I truly believe he'll find happiness, peace, success... On the flip side, because he is still a difficult child, I know that the road ahead is probably going to be filled with lots more potholes...
I agree with Marg that a sense of humor is essential. Without being able to find humor in the day to day HE77 my difficult children put me through, I don't think I would have a shred of "sanity" left... Also, it helps tremendously to use humor with difficult children, with any kids for that matter. It really helps "destress" an unpleasant situation if it's sprinkled with a bit of humor.
I also agree with Marg that it's important to take care of ourselves at the same time we're taking care of our difficult children. Unfortunately, I learned this lesson the hard way, in my humble opinion, way too late. Now, I'm doing my best to take care of myself and hoping that, as a result, I'll have a bit more patience to deal with the daily "garbage" difficult child 2 and easy child(?)/difficult child 3(?) still put me through.
Hope you find a reason to smile today... SFR