By Karen McMahon
How can you avoid feeling isolated?
One of the hardest divorce transitions is the change in your social status. Married couples that you and your spouse have socialized with for years no longer fit into your new single status. Even if you are not single yet, hanging out with your married friends might make you feel at times like a third wheel.
Additional they may feel uncomfortable, not knowing how to handle your new situation. Holiday functions add difficulty as they don’t know who to invite to an affair or how to handle the situation with ease. Furthermore, your married friends may not be available to go out with you alone. Yet you have been married so long that you may not even know any single people to socialize with.
If you are a parent you have the added challenge of time away from the kids. While custodial and non-custodial parents suffer different struggles, being away from the kids is still hard. You have not had this much free time in years. You miss them when they are not around. Evenings and weekends are particulary hard and seem to stretch on endlessly at times. What can you do to turn this situation into a positive for yourself?
How can you use this time to recreate yourself and your new life?
- What are your passions?
- What were your interests in hobbies before you met your lifetime partner?
- What have you longed to do but had no free time to do it?
- If you could do something creative, fun or personally fulfilling, what would it be?
Begin to create a plan for your free time. Research your opportunities, put a list together of people who may have time and share your interests. Begin to shift you thing from dread of free time to excitement of doing something new…something that YOU enjoy…that speaks to your VALUES. This is the beginning of redefining who you are and what you want in your future. Play with it, have FUN, be creative.
Write us and tell how you are handling the newly found freedom and free time that comes with this season of divorce
Next Topic:Acting on your plans – Designing Activities that Speak to your Values
Chief Visionary: Karen McMahon
Our team of coaches at JBD is passionate about helping men and women navigate the emotional difficulties of relationships, breakups and divorce. We work together with you to open the possibility that your current relationship challenges can lead to a rewarding voyage of self-discovery and an immensely more pleasing life experience. Together we create a path to clarity. Find out if Coaching is right for you, and accept my gift of one FREE session.
