Your relationships Divorce and the ‘fight or flight’ response Posted on October 10January 22 When you are in the first stages of divorce you are likely to experience the ‘fight or flight’ response. It may kick in when having a conversation with your ex, visiting the lawyer’s offices, or going to court. You can even trigger it with a painful memory. The ‘fight or… Read more
Your relationships Gray divorce? You don’t have to go through it alone Posted on October 4May 31 You may not be aware of it but if you are in the throes of a late-life divorce, you are part of what is being called the “gray divorce phenomenon”. Boomers born between 1946 and 1964 are divorcing more than any other generation. Gray divorce figures are rising Statistics show… Read more
Your mind Don’t feel lonely when you live alone Posted on September 27January 22 You don’t have to feel lonely if you live alone. Many people in the world today live alone. Some people never marry while others are widows or divorcees. In the United States alone there are more than 95 million single adults. Living alone is more acceptable than it was in… Read more
Your mind The denial stage of divorce Posted on September 20January 22 One of the stages you will experience when facing grief is denial. Grief doesn’t only apply when someone dies – you feel it when going through a divorce too. Swiss-American psychiatrist, Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, came up with five stages of grief. Some people try to apply these stages in a linear… Read more
Your relationships 5 ways to protect yourself during a late-life divorce Posted on September 12September 12 It may not occur to you that you need to protect yourself when going through a late-life divorce. The process of divorce can be brutal and it comes at a time when your emotions are all over the place, making you very vulnerable. You may expect to be treated fairly… Read more
Your relationships Living alone after a late-life divorce Posted on September 11 With the rise in late-life divorce among baby boomers, many of us are facing living alone in the latter part of our lives, sometimes for the first time ever. Some of us may have gone straight from living with our parents to living with a husband and raising children. We… Read more
Empty Nest Count your blessings in an empty nest Posted on August 29 It may feel as if your life will never be the same after the years of hands-on parenting end. You are right – it won’t ever be the same. It will be quite, quite different. But although it’s different, there are ways in which it can be very rewarding. You… Read more
Your relationships How to re-establish your independence post-divorce Posted on August 23 As babies we are completely dependent on our mothers and growing up is a process of becoming more independent. When we get married, it can be a battle to surrender some of that independence for the sake of the relationship. Over the years of marriage, some of us maintain more… Read more
Your relationships How an affair impacts a long-term marriage Posted on August 15 An affair can be catastrophic to any relationship. When it happens in a long-term marriage, the consequences can be devastating. I had been married to my husband for decades but I was blind to the signs that he was having an affair. I was so firmly in denial that I… Read more
Your relationships Why forgiveness matters after a divorce Posted on July 25July 28 A divorce is one of those life events that’s a perfect breeding ground for feelings of hurt, guilt, resentment and anger. The natural response to being hurt is to want to hurt back. You want that person who has hurt you to feel the full weight of what you are… Read more
Inspiration Adjust to being single after a late-life divorce Posted on July 13July 13 When you’ve been through a divorce and you are no longer a wife or husband, you have to learn how to be comfortable in your skin as a single person once again. After a long-term marriage, you probably don’t even remember what it’s like to be single. It’s exciting to… Read more
Your relationships Help! I’m a divorced Christian Posted on June 21 Divorce and Christian are two words that do not seem to belong together. As a Christian I went into my marriage with the belief that we were making a binding covenant with one another. I believed that we were equally yoked and that our mutual love of God would ensure… Read more
Your relationships Why is the over-50 divorce rate rising? Posted on June 19 Why are so many couples who have been married for years getting divorced? ‘Gray divorce’ figures are rising at a time when other divorce figures are dropping. In a survey done by the Office for National Statistics in the UK, it was found that the number of over-50s who separated… Read more
Your relationships How adult children respond to divorce Posted on June 6June 6 Your role as parents does not end when your children become adults. When you go through a divorce, you may no longer be a husband or a wife but you are still a father or a mother. Parents may feel that because their children are adults, they should be able… Read more
Empty Nest My empty nest is the best of both worlds Posted on May 22 I have the best of both worlds. I spend the week in my empty nest and my 21-year-old daughter comes home from university nearly every weekend. She has the attraction of a boyfriend who lives down the road from me but I don’t care why she comes – I just… Read more
My post-divorce manifesto Posted on May 8 While going through my divorce, I read many helpful books and received plenty of advice from other divorced women. Not all of the advice was helpful but I distilled what really did help me down to five statements that I call my post-divorce manifesto. I continue to remind myself of… Read more
Your relationships Dating when you’re over 50 and divorced Posted on March 3March 4 It’s very hard to go from being in a long-term committed relationship to dating someone else. Just the idea of it is often so nerve-wracking that you don’t even attempt it. However, conquering any fears and taking the plunge may be just what’s needed. That’s what I’m telling myself at… Read more
Your relationships Ending the shame of divorce Posted on February 28February 28 Shame is an emotion that many people live with their entire lives. It prevents them from living life fully. A divorce is a life event that often leaves you feeling raw and exposed. You don’t realize how much the burden of shame is weighing you down until you start trying… Read more
Your relationships What are the signs of infidelity in marriage? Posted on December 7 What are the signs of infidelity in marriage? This is a question that crosses the mind of anyone who suspects a spouse might be having an affair. The reason I am writing about this topic is that I was blind to the signs. If I had identified them earlier, perhaps… Read more
Your relationships Recovering from rejection after divorce Posted on October 3March 14 After a divorce, feelings of rejection are common. When a long-term relationship comes to an end, the pain of rejection is often severe for the person who has been left. It may be unreasonable for the person to feel this sense of rejection but it is severely debilitating none the… Read more