I think that I had a hopeless case of hope! I have heard that you can get "addicted to hope." I finally got tired of throwing away that precious gift on someone when I realized it was futile...it's up to them. Now that we are separate and 99.9% no contact I find that I can have a pleasant sense of hope for him...there's always hope, but it doesn't have to be someone else's desperate hope.
TWO slogans I heard that helped, in this situation as in so many other aspects of life:
1. Don't keep throwing good money after bad. (in this case either figuratively OR literally)
2. Don't delay the inevitable. Wow...that one helps me with SO many things!!