Ogarko

Hard to believe the year is almost over, but in only a month or so, we’ll be making New Year’s resolutions for 2012.  Resolutions are notoriously hard to keep, mainly because procrastinating is a problem for so many people, but if your happiness is at stake it’s time to take action.

I watch so many people suffer through unhappiness because they don’t or won’t do what needs to be done, because they are procrastinating or because they are afraid of the unknown, or for many other reasons.  Many of these people I know are unhappy because they feel stuck in marriages that are unhappy or even emotionally abusive, but for whatever reason, they are hesitating to take the next step.

When everyone is unhappy, though, staying together just makes things worse.  Divorce is often a frightening proposition, especially if you and your partner have been together for a very long time — but at the same time, if you and your partner are that unhappy, your lives are both essentially on hold until you do something about it.  Splitting up and going your separate ways is often the best scenario for everyone involved, because even if it seems sad or scary now, it will free both of you to live your own lives and seek your own happiness.

Someone very close to me is in this kind of a situation — she and her husband are incredibly unhappy together, and have been for years, but both are somewhat scared to take the next step and get a divorce.  They have been married for more than half their lives, and the thought of starting over is scary to both of them, even though neither will admit it.  But we often make things into a bigger deal in our heads than they have to be in real life, and I think both will discover, when they finally get up the nerve to consult an Orlando divorce lawyer, that starting a new life is easier (and, ultimately, better for their happiness) than either of them expected.