Summary: Is Your Glass Half Full or Half Empty? Your mental attitude can play a significant role in your experience healing from divorce. If you are a glass half full kind of person, you will likely forge through the healing process but may not take the time you need to truly heal. If your glass is always half empty then you are likely to get stuck in the anger or depression stages of the healing process. A Tale of Two Divorcees I recently heard a podcast from Dan Miller where he used the opening lines of Charles Dickens' "A Tale of Two Cities" to compare peoples' responses to the economy and I thought it also would make a good illustration for the impact of your mental attitude on your reaction to the divorce process. The book starts like this: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way." Divorce can be both the best of times and the worst of times. For me it was the worst of times. I was blind-sided by my divorce and really spiraled down for awhile until I realized that it was an opportunity to grow and have an even better life than I had before. Even for those who wanted the divorce it can often feel like the worst of times. Divorce is such an upheaval that few can get through it without going through a significant amount of pain. The time immediately following a divorce is often marked by many foolish behaviors such as dating too soon, becoming promiscuous, and even drug and alcohol addiction. But this time can also be a time of great wisdom. An ancient Chinese proverb states that wisdom is knowing what you know and knowing what you don't know. Realizing that you are in unknown territory and seeking help after your divorce is one of the wisest things you can do. What Now? If you are a glass half empty kind of person, I would suggest doing some introspection to see what it is about you that makes you that way. A more positive mental attitude can greatly increase your likelihood of successfully completing the healing process after divorce. Feedback: If you have feedback for me please email me at feedback@survivingdivorcepodcast.com or call the listener feedback line at (347) 433-7664. If you have a question I will answer it on an upcoming episode of the Surviving Divorce Podcast.
