Divorce is the end of your marriage, but it is by no means the end of your life, your happiness or even your relationships in a general sense. Life moves on, and you get a chance to start over and reinvent yourself.
This can feel difficult right as the divorce gets underway, however. Where should you start? How do you approach something like this? Most of us have very little experience with such things, so it’s worth considering. Here are a few things you may want to do:
- Give yourself time to feel sad and to address those feelings. Instead of trying to ignore them, try to work through them. This can make the healing process go much faster.
- Focus on who you are now and who you were before the marriage. Maybe you abandoned hobbies that you used to love. Maybe you’re interested in developing new skills. Put your time and energy into these things, focusing on yourself. You can become whoever you choose to be.
- Don’t be afraid of something new. People often focus on things that are familiar and comforting, because it’s easy, but this might be the right time to push yourself out of your comfort zone. Specially, you may find it fulfilling to try something you never thought you’d have a chance to try. Maybe you always wanted to live outside of the United States, for example, but your ex wanted to stay in Indiana. You stayed for the marriage. Now that it’s over, is it time to chase that exciting dream of living abroad?
Naturally, how the post-divorce process goes depends on how the divorce itself plays out. Focus on what options you have to create the future you want.