The New Year is upon us all and with it comes many who find that their 2016 was tumultuous — facing a divorce, learning how to live separate from your spouse, divvying up parenting time. None of these things are easy to navigate when you're also dealing with the emotions that come from a divorce. Now that the New Year is here, there are a few ways you can begin to take back your life and move through this time with a little more confidence and happiness.
The first key to anyone's happiness is loving themselves, and often when you have gone through a divorce this love can feel depleted. The most important thing is to remind yourself that the only path is the one forward. You can't beat yourself up for mistakes in the past but you can choose to take a lesson from what you feel unhappy about and move forward with that new knowledge.
Somewhat related to the previous advice, remember to take care of yourself. This can mean different things for different people, but find what relaxes you and dedicate your time to this each week. It could mean taking a hot bubble bath to relax, painting, or reading a book. Having the time to decompress during the week is a great way to manage stress which will help improve your health and overall mood.
If you haven’t already, a great way to snap yourself out of an unhappy time is to try and enrich your life by trying something new. Perhaps you always wanted to try a new hobby or travel to a specific destination while you were married but never got the chance. Now is your time to explore those pieces of yourself you might have left by the wayside while you were married. Find those parts of yourself and act on them, try something new! There is nothing more rewarding then expanding your horizons.
The beginning of the new year is a great time to commit to focusing on taking care of yourself and your happiness. This might seem especially hard when you’ve been through divorce but if you open yourself up to working towards these goals you will begin to find that the good days soon far outweigh the hard ones!
