Divorce is never an easy process, legally or emotionally. The person you thought you’d be with forever is now going to be known as your ‘ex.’ While your lawyer in Fort Mill, SC can help you with the legalities of your divorce, there is still the emotional side to deal with. Sometimes it helps to talk to a professional to help you through it. Here are the four stages of divorce you can expect to go through:
Denial
Did my spouse really say they wanted a divorce? No that can’t be right. I’m sure after a good night’s sleep everything will be fine in the morning. Except morning comes and things are just as they were the night before. If you are not the one initiating the divorce, it can be difficult to comprehend what’s happening. Perhaps you’ve been unhappy, but you thought you could work things out; or, perhaps you thought things were fine, and your spouse came home one day to tell you they’ve been having an affair for the past year. That can be a huge blow that you must work through. The full implications of what will happen in the future are not clear yet.
Pain and Fear
Once you realize that this divorce is truly happening, it can open a floodgate of emotions. Pain and fear are the next stages of grief. Hurt that your spouse doesn’t love you anymore doesn’t want to be with you and is going to move on without you. Then the fear sets in: what’s going to happen to me? Am I going to make it on my own? How is this going to affect the children? How will I support myself? Where am I going to live? These sorts of questions are normal, and it’s at this stage you may be feeling overwhelmed.
Anger and Depression
This stage can exist while you’re still experiencing pain and fear, so it’s normal to feel many emotions all at once. You’re angry at your spouse, you’re angry at yourself, and you’re angry at the world. You may be thinking, how did things get this far? Or, I can’t believe my spouse is doing this to me! Once the anger abates, depression could set in, because you realize that there is no easy solution, and your life will change forever.
Acceptance
One day you will wake up and realize that you can’t stop the divorce from happening, and hey, maybe that’s a good thing. Your divorce lawyer in Fort Mill, SC has likely finalized your divorce by now. The acceptance stage is a kind of renewal stage, where you see things in a new light. You realize that you can move forward, you can make it on your own, and you have your whole life ahead of you. You begin to understand that things are working out for the better, and you, and your spouse are no longer right for each other. You may have decided to go back to school, take up a new hobby, or applied for a new job. The acceptance stage is the start of a whole new you!
Harden Law can help you with your divorce proceedings. Call or visit the website today for more information.
