and never give up!
When you are feeling like all is lost, look around. There is invariable someone around you who is in a more precarious situation than you are. There is always hope.
Point in case: I was honored to have recently closed a case that had been in my office for nearly 9 years. This poor gentleman client of mine was being denied his Social Security benefits simply because he shard a 1/2 interest in a worthless timeshare in the Poconos. It could not be legally partitioned, he could not assign his rights to others, so what did he have to sell????? A 3.5 day privilege for the new owner to fight with his ex-wife over who gets what time! Yep, as I said, worthless. The prolonged nature of this case, including more than 3 hearings and a Federal Court case netted my deserving client over $90,000.00 in past due benefits. Finally, the good guy comes out first!.
And for you nay sayers who believe that this protracted win was better for me too, absolutely not - I took and maintained the case Pro-Bono, despite the ability to charge a fee in the end!