Archive for August 2013
Life Lessons From The Litter Box (And Pooper Scooper) Set
Paying attention to your pets can provide a lot of inspiration for getting through your divorce.
I have four pets, two cats and two dogs. They each have very distinct personalities. Jewel is the youngest cat at about 12. Her short fur is all black except for a patch of white at the base of her neck. She’s all about food, cuddling and sunbathing. Her figure reflects her hedonistic life style and on the rare occasions when she runs, her furry belly wobbles so much that I’m amazed it doesn’t get totally out of control!
Meow is an elderly cat who is a mix of just about everything: Siamese, Persian and Tabby. She is very regal and knows exactly what she wants and when she wants it. I love her determination.
Marti is a four-year-old black lab mix. His greatest joys in life are kids, food and playing, especially outside. Wait a minute. Make that playing outside with kids. Oh, oh, make that playing outside with kids who have food they’re willing to share. That’s Marti. He seems to always come up with ways to make whatever he’s doing even more fun.
Tonic is a twelve-year-old Australian shepherd mix. She’s big into cuddling and kissing, but in general she sets the rules for Marti and Jewel. (Meow is so regal that Tonic just lets her do what she wants.) Usually, Tonic is a rule-follower and does what’s expected of her. However, she’s been loosening up recently and I’ve caught her several times just chilling out lying on her back and letting everything relax. It’s so unexpected to see her so completely relaxed that I smile every time I catch her doing it. (Yes, that’s a picture of Tonic relaxing.)
I find inspiration for living a more fulfilling and happy life by paying attention to my four-footed family members today just like I did when I paid attention to the sweet pets I had when I was going through my divorce. Today, the lessons Jewel, Meow, Marti and Tonic teach me are just as important as the ones I learned years ago from other pets. Jewel reminds me that good things are good and that there can be repercussions from too much of some good things. Meow reminds me of the importance of boundaries and the importance of living my life in a way that works for me. Marti reminds me to have fun. Heck, Marti reminds everyone he meets of the importance of having fun. And Tonic reminds me of the importance of just letting it all hang out and relax sometimes. The lessons they teach me are (usually) joyful and I look forward to learning each and every one of them. My hope is that if you have pets you’re taking advantage of their great lessons too!
Your Functional Divorce Assignment:
Which of my pets inspires you? Maybe Jewel inspires you to exert a little more self-control or Meow helps you to recognize that boundaries might be just what you need. Maybe Marti’s lesson of just having fun or Tonic’s example of relaxing are more important for you right now.
When you think of a favorite pet, what do they inspire you to do, be or try? Lots of people who have dogs recognize the incredible amount of unconditional love they receive and want to emulate that. Many people who have cats are inspired by how calm cats can be when they camp out in the middle of your lap (or on the middle of your notes like Jewel is doing for me right now) and start purring.
How might you put one of the lessons from a four-footed companion to work right now? We can all learn a lot by paying attention to our pets. But, there’s a difference between learning and doing. If one of your pets (or one of mine) teaches you something, go ahead and make the effort to put the lesson into practice. I suspect that it will make your life better and your adjustment to your divorce easier if you do.
I’m Dr. Karen Finn, a divorce coach and advisor helping people just like you who are dealing with the stress and pain of divorce. You can join my newsletter list for free weekly advice. If you’re ready to take the first step toward working with me as your personal coach, you can schedule an introductory private coaching session.
Compromise Isn’t A Contest
The ability to compromise is one of the requirements for a successful long-term relationship. Although when the relationship ends, it’s pretty common to realize that what you were calling compromise really wasn’t. You discover you were giving in or giving up for the sake of keeping the peace or being a wonderful partner. In essence, you lost and your partner won.
If someone wins and someone loses, it’s not compromise. It’s a contest and there’s a score.
Although we’re taught to be good sports when we’re kids – you know be a gracious winner and a good sport about losing – I don’t know anyone who likes to lose again and again and again. That’s because continually losing in a contest can lead us to think that we’re less than our opponent. When our opponent is our partner, it’s a recipe for disaster. They start to also believe that we’re less than they are and treat us that way. Then, we start resenting them and lose a little piece of ourselves every time we stuff our thoughts and feelings for the sake of “compromise”.
Compromise isn’t about always doing what someone else expects or wants. Compromise in a relationship is about two people who respect each other being able to freely talk about what their different thoughts and ideas are to arrive at a mutual decision which will allow them to move forward in some way.
Now, you and I both know that this isn’t how most of the real world of relationships works. This “freely talk” stuff is often accompanied by raised voices and maybe a slammed door or two. BUT the key is that both people are able to be heard when they speak about what’s important to them. Granted it can be hard to be heard when two people are yelling at each other so compromise usually works best before the issue reaches a fevered pitch.
When I first got married I thought that compromise just meant that things were able to move forward in some way – not that my feelings and thoughts were valuable and needed to be part of the equation. I believed that so long as my husband was happy that I should be happy by default. If he wanted to do something, then I should be OK with it no matter what I really thought. I convinced myself that we were great at compromising. What I was great at was giving in and giving up so we wouldn’t argue. And every time I did that, I thought less of myself. I lived like that for 18 years. That’s a long time to continually chip away at your self-esteem and identity.
When we divorced, part of me felt free. I wouldn’t need to worry about pleasing him anymore. Another part of me was scared because I realized that meant I could focus on pleasing myself, but I wasn’t really sure what I liked or wanted. It had been so long since I had allowed myself to know me – the real me.
Fast-forward to today and I’ve been remarried for 4 years. I know who I am and what makes me happy. One of the things my new husband and I continue to work on is the art of compromise. I’ll be honest when we first got together we had more contests than compromise. There were plenty of raised voices and doors slamming, but today we’re much better at compromise. Compromise for us requires looking at the bigger picture instead of only what’s going on in the instant. We look at what our overall goals are for ourselves, each other and our relationship. Once we do that, it’s so much easier to compromise instead of battle.
And this experience is why I believe that the ability to compromise, really compromise, is a key part of being in a successful long-term relationship.
Your Functional Divorce Assignment:
How well did/do you and your ex compromise? Be extremely honest with yourself. Were you always getting your way? Were you always giving in?
How would you like compromise to be different in a new relationship? Most people see the value in compromise instead of conflict or even always getting their way. What’s your opinion?
How will you increase the likelihood of you having the ability to compromise in a new relationship? What do you need to look for in the personality of your new partner to know that you’ll be able to compromise in a way that will nurture the relationship? What do you need to change about the way you communicate to allow compromise the way you envision it to be a part of your new relationship?
Feeling like you would appreciate some outside support with this whole idea? You might want to contact a therapist or a divorce coach to get a different perspective and some tools for how to make your next relationship great.
I’m Dr. Karen Finn, a divorce and personal life coach helping people just like you who are contemplating divorce. Should you stay, or should you go is a powerful question and I’m here to help you make a smart decision that will lead to your greatest happiness… whether you stay OR go. You can join my newsletter list for free weekly advice. And, if you’re ready, you can take the first step toward working with me as your personal coach by scheduling a private consultation.
If you’re looking for more help answering the question “Should I stay or should I go?”, read more in Unhappy Marriage?
Name Calling Can Help You Quickly Heal From Your Divorce
Mom was wrong; name calling isn’t always bad. Sometimes, it’s exactly what you need.
Do you remember the first time you called someone “stupid?” I remember the first time I did. I also remember the conversation mom had with me for doing so. She explained that it wasn’t nice to call someone names because it makes them feel bad. Part of me felt ashamed for having done something to make someone else (in this case, it was my younger brother) feel bad. And then there was another part of me that filed the information away to be used in future battles.
Yes, I did use name calling in arguments I had with other kids too — kids at school and kids in the neighborhood. I even resorted to name calling when I got angry at my parents. I’d call them “meanies!”
Then puberty hit and I got a lot more creative in my name calling. The extra creativity resulted from hanging around other kids, my voracious appetite for reading and all the “bad names” I made up from my French class lessons.
I have to admit that I didn’t limit my name calling to arguments I had with other people. I also developed a habit of calling myself names when I didn’t do something as well as I expected myself to do it. Sometimes I’d say it out loud, but mostly I called myself names internally; you know, that conversation in your head. I justified this by saying that I was just motivating myself to do better. Granted, I was also putting myself down and chipping away at my self-esteem, but I just ignored that part.
The habit of calling myself names on purpose continued through high school and college. I’d regularly call myself, “fat, ugly and stupid.”
Then I got married and after a few years the number of names I called myself had increased to include, “lonely, scared, not good enough, different,” as well as many others.
When I got divorced, the number of names increased again to include the likes of, “depressed, stressed, terrified and unlovable.”
It was during the time I was recovering from my divorce that I started to pay real attention to the names I was calling myself. When I did, I was horrified that I was right! I was all those things and more. I was miserable.
And it was my misery that started to provide a path out of the hell I had created for myself in my own mind. I was determined to not be miserable anymore. I tried everything I could think of, everything my therapist could think of, everything my trainer could think of and everything my friends and family could think of to feel better about myself. Slowly, and with lots of effort, I found my way out of the hell I had created. I started to counter-balance the names I was calling myself. I allowed myself to like me — even just a little bit. And that little bit of liking grew over time. I stopped looking for as much external validation of myself and started realizing that I was great just because I was me.
The funny thing is that as I started to like myself more and more, I was still calling myself names. Only now there were nicer names thrown in the mix: “beautiful, smart, fun, capable.”
Today, more than 10 years after my divorce was final, I still call myself names, only now they’re powerful, energizing names that motivate and inspire me. What I’ve come to realize is that my mom was both absolutely right and absolutely wrong when she told me that calling people names made them feel bad. She was absolutely right that when I call someone (including myself) a bad name that can make them feel bad. And she was absolutely wrong because she didn’t mention that when I call someone (including myself) a good name, that can make them feel wonderful.
Your Functional Divorce Assignment:
1. What names do you regularly call yourself? We all have so much chatter going on in our heads that it can be difficult to pick out the names we call ourselves at first. If it’s hard for you to answer this question, just be patient and pay attention to your internal conversation. Sooner or later, you’ll start picking up on the names you’re calling yourself.
2. What names did you call yourself when you were “happily” married? This is an especially interesting question because it can give you insight into how you might like to see yourself again or it might even give you insight into how some of your name calling intensified—like it did for me.
3. What positive, inspiring, wonderful names would you like to call yourself? Once you have these names identified, start using them! After all, we all call ourselves names and if you’re going to call yourself names, you might as well make sure they’re good ones.
4. Having trouble coming up with some good names to call yourself? Don’t worry, I was there too. There are times during divorce when it’s just really hard to recognize anything good about yourself. It’s time for you to get some outside input to come up with the good names. You might want to ask your close friends, family, clergy, therapist, or even a divorce coach to help you out.
I’m Dr. Karen Finn, a divorce and personal life coach helping people just like you who are dealing with the stress and pain of divorce. You can join my newsletter list for free weekly advice or schedule a confidential consultation with me.
© 2013 Karen Finn. All rights reserved under all copyright conventions.
This article originally appeared on YourTango.
How To Create Your Short-Cut To Divorce Recovery
Divorce is devastating. In the beginning, it can leave you feeling lost, alone, confused, depressed and even unlovable. Then, you start to feel angry and vengeful on top of feeling lost, alone, confused, depressed and unlovable. After a while you just don’t know which horrible emotion you’re going to experience next. It can be kind of like being blindfolded, tied up and stuck on a run-away rollercoaster of misery. All you want is to just feel “normal” again.
Unfortunately, for most people, finding their way back to “normal” isn’t obvious or easy after divorce. Because of this the divorce rollercoaster ride can seem never ending.
But, there is a way to short-circuit this horrific ride of negative emotions. It requires you to know 10 specific things about yourself.
By knowing just these 10 things about yourself, you can start to feel more like you because you’ll be directly disproving one of the most horrible negative thoughts anyone can have – believing that you are unlovable.
Knowing that you are lovable is one of the most critical beliefs for living a happy life. It’s part of our wiring as humans. We need to have a sense of belonging and love to thrive.
But that’s exactly what divorce strips away from us – our sense of belonging and love. That’s why it’s vital that you develop a new sense of belonging and love independent of your ex ASAP.
You can create your new sense of belonging and love by knowing 10 things about yourself. The 10 things you need to know are 10 reasons why you like yourself. These 10 reasons can be anything, anything at all.
When I was going through my divorce and was first introduced to this idea, I had a really difficult time coming up with my list of 10 reasons I liked myself. I mean REALLY difficult. I remember 2 of the items on my first list with a sense of pity and compassion that I had such a poor sense of who I was. One of those items was “I like that I know how to drive because it means that I don’t have to rely on anyone else to take me where I want to go when I want to go there.” The second one was “I like that I can bake good cookies.” I saw so little to love in me that I had to resort to appreciating things that I could do instead of who I was. BUT the really great thing about this was that I was willing to do the exercise and truly think about things I liked about me.
And, believe it or not, this list of 10 things I liked about myself was the beginning of me starting to feel better about being me. It allowed me to start slowing down my rollercoaster of misery. It was also the beginning of me being able to start seeing me as lovable again because I was willing to start loving myself for just being me.
That’s exactly what I want for you. I want you to be able to short-circuit your rollercoaster ride of negative emotions by knowing just 10 things about yourself – 10 things you like about you. Knowing this can be exactly what you need to start to feel more like you again, to move on from your divorce more quickly and on to living the BEST of your life.
Your Functional Divorce Assignment:
Create a list of at least 10 things you like about you. Taking the time to do this is so important to you getting over your divorce quickly. However, for many people making the list is kinda tough. If you find that you’re having difficulty coming up with 10 things, go ahead and ask a friend or family member to tell you one or two things they appreciate about you. It will probably be just the thing to help you get going to discovering 10 things you like about yourself.
Just making the list isn’t enough. You need to read it out loud to yourself with positive emotion in the morning when you first get up and at night before you go to bed. Reminding yourself of what’s great about you at least twice a day every day will start to shift those negative thoughts to more positive ones and allow you to short-circuit the negative-emotion rollercoaster ride we all go on with divorce.
At some point, you’re going to want to change your list. You may want to add to it, or you might want to just replace one of the items with something else. Go ahead! Make your list of reasons why you like yourself a “living document”. Update your list as frequently as you’d like. Before too long, you’ll discover that the things you like about yourself will shift to being even more positive. When that happens, you’ll also notice that you’ll be feeling better overall and well on your way to feeling “normal” again.
I’m Dr. Karen Finn, a divorce and personal life coach helping people just like you who are dealing with the stress and pain of divorce. You can join my newsletter list for free weekly advice or schedule a confidential consultation with me.