How to Move Forward After Divorce
Though divorces occur nationwide with regular frequency, the individual emotional trauma that comes with a divorce is no less mitigated. Along with the dashed expectations and abruptly altered life plans, there is the sudden absence of all the day-to-day structure that came with having a life partner for an extended period of time. It is important during the immediate aftermath to maintain healthy physical and mental life habits, talk out negative and anxious feelings with supportive people, and to stay busy and focused on new activities and new friends.
Other People Are Reading
Instructions
-
-
1
Begin a regular exercise program--at least three alternating days a week--if you haven't already been following one. If you've been exercising regularly, maintain the program, and override the temptation to give it up out of depression and apathy. Keeping fit won't solve the myriad emotional difficulties that come with a divorce, but it can help you gain some sense of control over your physical life, improve your self-image and aid in releasing post-exercise, mood-relaxing endorphins.
-
2
Contact the temporary assistance of a counselor, be it a general psychologist or psychiatrist, or a divorce-specific professional therapist, to work out any intense feelings of anger and/or melancholy. Reach out to any friends or family who are willing to listen and offer support and advice, though it's equally important not to lean on loved ones so intensely and for so long a time that you inadvertently strain your relationships with them. Balance and disperse your counseling time between loved ones and professionals.
-
-
3
Involve yourself in activities and hobbies that interest you, which you may have discarded (or never even tried) while married. New interests never picked up on can be brought into your life by taking classes, which is also a great way to meet new friends and acquaintances. Keeping busy after a divorce is important for your mental health, but it's just as important that what's keeping you busy isn't just busywork but rather something you actually care about and feel some sort of passion for.
-
4
Avoid entering another relationship immediately following your divorce. Relationships quickly begun after the demise of a long-term relationship are known as rebound relationships, and they occur in an attempt to assuage feelings of low self-worth, as well as to stave off feelings of loneliness after having been in a couple for an extended time. The period immediately following a divorce should be a time to get your life in order and rediscover your independence, rather than desperately seeking to create instant intimacy with someone new.
-
5
Travel to places that hold a special significance for you, or to never-seen places you've always wanted to visit. Regarding traveling to places in your past, it's wise--from an emotional standpoint--to avoid places you visited with your ex. Whether it's a destination you remember fondly from your childhood or an exotic, overseas locale, temporarily getting away from the immediate physical environment you've been steeped in with your ex-partner can help facilitate the healing process.
-
1
References
- Photo Credit mariés image by JLG from Fotolia.com
