When life gets hard, sometimes it gets really hard. If you’re going through a divorce, this is likely something you’ve learned the hard way. I certainly did.
Around the same time my wasband moved out, my son flooded the house during a “nap.”
He crawled out of my bed, climbed into the bathroom sink, plugged it up and let the water run for two hours. I thought it was a blissful nap— turns out, it was a $20k insurance claim.
The walls and floors soaked up all of the water and had to be dried and replaced. If you’ve ever been through a water damage scenario, you know how much this sucks. It wasn’t just costly and messy, it was exhausting managing the claim and having workers in the house at all times.
Around that same time, our family dog was diagnosed with both a heart condition and skin cancer, and required interventions for both.
My oven broke.
My computer broke.
It was too much. I felt like the wheels were coming off and I would never get through it.
Divorce is like that sometimes. When a marriage falls apart, sometimes a lot of other things also crash and burn.
But here’s the thing about the flood— my kids and I had to move out of the house for a week while the floors were replaced. Our insurance paid for us to stay at a hotel on the beach. It was a heat wave in November and we got to play in the ocean every day.
My kids and I played and found lightness. It didn’t fix everything but the memory of that week almost made the misery of the flood worth it.
Almost.
The reason I share this story is simple— if it feels like everything is falling apart and you will never get through this divorce, know this— it’s going to be sunny in November and if you’re lucky you’ll get to catch a few waves. These moments of pain or even agony give rise to surrender. You will remember what you overcame and the grace (and don’t worry, it’s not all graceful for anyone) with which you did it.
It won’t always feel this overwhelming.
You got this!
Whitney Boole
P.S. If you want my help navigating the dumpster fire that your life post-divorce can look (and feel) like, make sure you check out Healing Through Divorce. I created it to take you from ground zero to your happily ever after.
