3 Tips to Help You Get Through Divorce
Whether it comes as a total surprise or it’s something you’ve seen coming for a long time, the moment you realize you are getting a divorce can be a shock to the system. Regardless of how you feel about your marriage, your soon-to-be ex-spouse, or the circumstances that led you to this decision, one thing is clear: your life is never going to be exactly the same again.
People who are going through a divorce often experience a wide array of conflicting emotions: it’s not uncommon to feel extreme, crushing sadness, unbridled, electric joy, and all-consuming rage- and that can be just within one hour! With all these feelings crashing into one another, going through your daily routine can become quite difficult, and it can be hard to find joy and comfort in the things you once loved. We’re here with a few tips to help you get through the toughest part of your divorce and make it to a brighter, happier future on the other side.
Take Care of Yourself
Between emotional conversations with your soon-to-be former spouse, divorce mediation sessions, and the roller-coaster of emotions you are on, it can be easy to forget to practice basic self-care. You may begin feeling run-down, and may actually catch a cold or other illness brought on by fatigue, hunger, or stress. The best thing you can do for yourself right now is to make sure you are taking good care of your body. By going to bed at an appropriate hour, eating balanced, healthy meals at regular intervals, and using calming techniques to alleviate stress and anxiety, you can keep yourself well and ensure that your batteries stay charged.
Build Your Support System
You know the old song, “You Gotta Have Friends?” It’s true! We need good friends, close family members, and others whom we can rely on for support to carry us through bad times, like a divorce, so that we can emerge as healthy, happy individuals in the next chapter of our lives. Now is the time to seek out the companionship of your BFF, trusted confidante, or even a sibling or parent who can offer judgment-free, unconditional love, and support.
Feel Your Feelings
Keeping your emotions bottled up inside is not a healthy way to cope with your divorce. Sooner or later, it’s all going to come bubbling up to the surface and boil over when you least expect it- on the job, with your kids, in traffic, or in the middle of a grocery store. According to Chicago’s uncontested divorce service SplitSimple, it’s best to allow yourself to feel however you need to feel, at the time you need to feel it, to avoid a lengthy, energy-sapping outburst at a less-than-opportune time. In order to effectively process your emotions during the course of the divorce process, give yourself permission to find a quiet spot and grieve, celebrate, cry, scream, or whatever else you are moved to do.
Divorce is one of the hardest things a person can go through in life, and it can be dealt with in many different ways, depending on each person’s individual experience. By understanding that there is no “normal” when it comes to how you process your divorce, you will give yourself the ability to get through this tough time so that you can have hope of a better life ahead.
Uday Tank is a serial entrepreneur and content marketing leader who serves the international community at Rankwisely. He enjoys writing, including marketing, productivity, business, health, diversity, and management.