Disclaimer: Please note that this article is not intended to be legal advice. You should always talk to an attorney who is skilled at family law about your unique situation.
Getting a divorce is a life-changing occurrence, so you’ll need to think clearly when you plan yours. Here are 5 tips to handle your emotions which will enable you to make logical, long term legal decisions.
Be sure you’ve tried everything you possibly could to make it work
Prior to dismantling your marriage, ask yourself if you have done everything you can to try to save it — and be truthful! You don’t want to think back to the past and wish you would have gone to marriage counseling or handled with your personal hang-ups prior to filing for divorce. At the same time ending a marriage is seldom easy, but it will go a lot easier if you feel a peace of mind at this point in your life.
Dedicate 100% on moving forward
You’ve tried everything you can to make the marriage work, and now you understand that getting a divorce is best to peacefully move on. After you’ve made your mind up, go through the legal steps associated with the divorce process with a professional type outlook. It doesn’t mean you’re not going to feel grief, sadness, stress, or anger. However, if you let those emotions take over reason as you traverse the legal steps of getting divorced, you could fudge and wind up making long term choices that can hurt you and your child(ren) and/or irritate an already hostile ex.
Acknowledge that there are going to be bad days
Tolerating your emotions that appear intolerable will help you grow. Trying to numb yourself with alcohol, by eating, taking nonprescription drugs, or sex with a random person can make you feel lousy, slow the divorce down, impede your parenting abilities, and potentially jeopardize your custody objective. Accept the fact that misery is part of life and do whatever has to be done.
Categorize
Thinking about your divorce all day and night is not going to make it go faster but it might make you – and your friends — very unhappy. Execute a “No Divorce Zone.” Put limitations on times you talk with your spouse and lawyer, for example, no correspondence at night. Strive to give yourself undisturbed chunks of time to concentrate on your child(ren), friends, and caring for yourself. Allowing yourself frequent divorce breaks will refresh you so you can live in the now and make solid legal choices.
Practice self-care
Begin taking care of yourself ASAP, prior to the legal process getting started. Get a physical, eat right, go to the gym, see a therapist to work on your coping abilities, and free your mind through meditation. If you have trouble eating, sleeping, and breathing correctly, you are not likely to make sound decisions, so you’ll need to do whatever it is to make you feel better.
Source:
- Law, Weinberger Divorce & Family. “5 Steps to Emotionally Prepare For Divorce.” Weinberger Divorce & Family Law Group, Weinberger Divorce & Family Law Https://Www.weinbergerlawgroup.com/Wp-Content/Uploads/2017/04/[email protected], 3 Jan. 2017, www.weinbergerlawgroup.com/blog/newjersey-law-divorce-separation/divorce-emotionally-prepare/.
