WHAT DOES A PERSON DO WITH THEIR LIFE UPON DIVORCE?

Everyone reacts a little differently to the reality of a divorce. I have had clients cry and I have had clients shout “Yahoo!” One common theme, though, is the dilemma of how to view the rest of one’s life after having been so connected in life to someone else.

I tell people that no matter how they feel about the divorce, they should view it as an opportunity to remake their life. How does one do that? I recommend a sabbatical of some form. The sabbatical should take you out of town and out of your day to day routine. For some, such as a Mother of children, the length of such a sabbatical might be pretty short, such as one day. For others, if they have the means and the opportunity, I recommend thirty days.

The sabbatical should be used as a quiet or meditative time to survey your life and your purpose. Write down the most important thing in your life. Then list the next important things. Focus on how you should lead your life to serve the most important things in your life. Write you personal constitution or mission statement. Write down things you want to achieve in your life, and create realistic time frames for achieving those goals.

Whether you are spiritual or not, you should dedicate yourself to taking quiet time each day to pray and/or meditate. If this is difficult for you, start with a short amount of time, such as ten minutes, and try to build up to thirty minutes. The best time to do this is at the start of the day. If you really want to spice this process up, add a pre-dawn walk before the quiet time. This will jump-start you physically, mentally and spiritually each day.