Are You Strong Enough to Forgive Your Ex

Image source: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/76/b8/85/76b8853ffffc30b29bdc01d0059f3525.jpg

When you go through the painful divorce experience, sometimes revenge runs rampant inside your mind, doesn't it? You certainly don't like what's happened to you. You want to blame someone because certainly you are faultless and blame free. You wouldn't mind it too awfully if someone else hurt as much as you do. You frequently turn this type of thinking toward your ex, whom you think of as the ogre.

The bottom line is that is really does take two to tango. Regardless of who is to blame for the divorce, you are one of that partnership and you're in this specific experience for your own good. I'm going to share with you a few ideas about how to glean that good from all the goop.

Lots of our spiritual leaders have told us to forgive and forget. Sounds great, but how do we do this with all those raging emotions caroming around inside of us? Through choice, deliberateness, putting our children first on the list, and being introspective.

Choice. You always have a choice in your life. You can live it awash with emotion, or you can choose something different. You can choose to take a deep breath. You can share with your children that you are getting in control of your emotions. Don't forget: you are their role model. You can have a few moments of silence to recover your equilibrium, and then you can choose to deliberately be calm at that very moment.

Deliberateness. Is it possible your ex will do thing deliberately to stir you up? It's possible. Can you do anything about their actions? You can not. You can only control yours, so why not decide today precisely what you will think the next time he/she tried to bait you. How about this: I am centered in my own truth and the lies that come at me fall away harmless without my emotional reaction. Or create one of your own. "I know you are but what am I?" won't work, so you'll have to dig deep and come up with something that will work for you.

Put Your Children First on the List. You want to set an exemplary example for your children. If your emotions are not in control, that's what you are teaching them. If you gossip about your ex in front of them, that's what you are teaching them. If you keep an undisciplined environment, that's what you are teaching them. If you are unforgiving and you refuse to forget what's happened in the past, that's what you are teaching them.

Forgiveness can be easy. You simply say the words "I forgive you." You follow those words with a good reason for why you forgive them. "You must be in a world of hurt yourself to say something so hurtful to me. You must be ignorant of how hurtful those words are to me. You must be awash in emotions yourself to lash out so." You are forgiving and you are giving a reasonable excuse for his behavior to yourself so that you can let go of it. Drop it and move on with your life. Forgiveness is for giving yourself your own next best thing. What a wonderful thing to teach to your children.

Forgetting can be just as easy. In order to forget, you have to put something else in the place of the thing you want to forget. If I tell you "Don't think about purple elephants" you will only remember purple elephants unless you can replace that with another idea - how about green alligators? For getting your next great idea in place of the emotionally-burdened one, just put another good idea in it's place. And then put a guard at the door to your thinking with orders not to let in any purple elephants! You can ease your children into their maturity with these techniques.

Become Introspective. Going within for a few moments when you've got some quiet time can be so beneficial for both you and your children. I came to cherish that last hour of the day when I was alone with my coffee, a book, the TV or just with my journal. It's a great way to sort through the elements of the day, give yourself some distance emotionally from them so that you can decide specifically how you want to handle it the next time. This could be a great time to read a few paragraphs from an inspirational book and think about how they apply to you. Just a few moments can grace you with much needed objectivity during your parenting years.

You could continue to seek for revenge, to blame your ex, to nurse your hurt behind drugs or alcohol, or, you could admit that you also played a role; that it does take two to tango. You can get honest and prevent a second divorce through the exercise of forgiveness. It's good for your kids if you do.