PennyO, an exercise I've used in the past is to think about all the things one HAS accomplished and think about how they were accomplished. Most of us, I find, have done far more than we give ourselves credit for. We pooh-pooh our successes. "Oh, but that was easy." Really? Any easier than what we're attempting now? I suspect there's a lot of mild (and not so mild) post-traumatic stress syndrome around. And, yes, courage and optimism are real gifts.