In the immediate aftermath of your decision to divorce your spouse, you likely experienced a host of negative emotions. Perhaps the decision to divorce was brought on by a traumatic event like infidelity. Or perhaps the decision to divorce was inspired by a variety of factors which added up to an unhealthy and unhappy situation. No matter what prompted the decision to divorce, the decision is now yours to “own.”
Thankfully, owning your divorce does not generally mean that you need to stew in your negative emotions. Generally, you will need to process your negative emotions in healthy ways until you can move forward. You may never “get over” your divorce in the sense that you have fully processed every nuance of the experience. However, you can work towards processing enough of your negative emotions that your future begins to look brighter instead of bleaker.
If you commit yourself to processing your divorce in healthy ways and looking towards a happier future, that future can become brighter with the passage of time. You may come to see divorce less as a source of trauma and more as a transition from one phase of life to the next. You may even find yourself feeling grateful for the knowledge, wisdom and compassion you have gained throughout the process.
Your family law attorney will almost certainly be able to help you weather the ups and downs of the legal side of divorce. It is ultimately up to you to weather the ups and downs of the emotional side of divorce. Thankfully, with intention and effort, you can approach this responsibility in ways that will leave you free of regret.
: The Huffington Post, “A Year Post-Divorce: A Positive Perspective,” Lindsey Light, April 28, 2015