It doesn’t matter how it happens or who makes the decision. Divorce is almost always a challenging and even traumatic experience that’s not easy to deal with. Here are some coping techniques to help you move on with your life after your divorce in Illinois.
Divorce is never easy
If you’ve just been divorced or separated, prepare for your emotions to be exhausted and challenged in ways you never would have imagined. It’s bound to be a bumpy ride even if the end of your marriage was perfectly amiable.
Support is vital as you work to move forward with your life. Whether you seek out the counseling of a professional or simply reach out to friends, family and community members for a more personal connection, isolation is generally your enemy during this period. Although alone time can be highly beneficial as you sort out your feelings and shift your focus to a new life, it’s a good idea to have friendly faces and voices within arm’s reach.
Self-care and the grieving process
Perhaps most of all, it’s essential that you do what you have to do to take care of yourself. Many divorcees have found that a focus on the future helps them recover quickly.
Whether it’s a separation or a full-blown divorce, you need to give yourself time and space to grieve the loss. It’s natural to feel angry, anxious, confused or some combination of all these feelings. You’ll likely phase through each of them at some point. Recovering from a divorce is a process, and it’s best to allow it to happen. At the very least, don’t beat yourself up for feeling this way.
Physical health is important, too, and it lends itself to good mental health. Consider the way you feel after a good workout or a healthy meal. You can even make it a social activity and take care of two post-divorce checklist items simultaneously.
Finally, make sure to let your kids be kids. Don’t force them to be part of this unpleasant affair any more than they have to.
