It’s well-known that divorce is one of the most stressful life events a person can endure. It ranks #2 on the Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale. The pain is intense, the feelings are raw, With all that is going on emotionally, should one search for stress relief?
According to Kelly McGonigal and her insightful TEDTalk, we should embrace stress.
It makes our hearts stronger and we live better lives.
Chasing meaning is better than avoiding difficult situations ~Kelly McGonigal
I’ll admit that I’ve experienced a lot of stress as I questioned whether Husband #2 would really file for divorce. Now that he’s made up his mind and is moving forward, my stress hasn’t disappeared…it’s just changed.
I’ve decided to adjust my own attitude by asking a simple question: What is the worse that can happen? And here it is, my worst-case scenario:
Our marriage will end and we will never love each other again.
There. I’ve said it.
I realize that the divorce process will not last forever. Ours will be relatively quick. Once the divorce stress is over, another stress will move in to take its place. (Such as a new job search when my current short-term contract is over)
And now, putting the worst in front of me, I embrace my stress and heal my heart. I guess that will be my greatest stress relief.
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