Love and Marriage... and Love During Divorce?
You've heard the phrase, "love and marriage go together like a horse and carriage," but can love be show during a divorce? Consider the following ways to love while going through a divorce:
Love yourself - Take care of yourself. Do healthy activities that make you feel good about yourself (exercise, get involved with your church or spend time with good friends) Don’t beat yourself up. Don’t indulge in addictive behavior. Spend your energy on positive pursuits that allow and promote personal growth. Daily evaluate your motives and actions and hold yourself accountable to honorable behavior which actually results in you gaining power with your soon-to–be ex-spouse.
Love your children - Children don’t want to be in the middle of a divorce. Be sensitive to your children, their needs and what they are going through. Give them the gift of your time and undivided attention during this difficult time. Show the other parent respect while in the presence of the children.
Love your soon-to-be ex-spouse - Okay, maybe it’s difficult to show love to your soon-to-be ex-spouse, but you can show respect and be nice. Take the high road. Don’t be petty. Do the right thing for the right reasons, particularly as it relates to your children that are subject to the divorce. Your children deserve to see this behavior from both of their parents. This is hard work at a personal level, due in part to the mix of emotionally charged issues that come up throughout a divorce, but do the "work"... you won't regret it.
"There needn’t be "broken" families, defined by divorce decrees and the like, Families can be defined and bound by love and other matters of the heart"