Today, at long last, I received my decree absolute, 2 years after I left my ex-husband.
I feel like celebrating one minute then I feel sad, I feel lost, then relieved, I feel scared, I feel free – I’m all over the place. I’ve spent 2 years waiting for this day and now that it’s here it feels like a huge anticlimax.
I have to remind myself that today is the last day of my marriage but the first day of my new life.
I’ve just got back from court.
My marriage is over.
I feel free. I feel like I want to tell the world.
My solicitor just rang to warn me that it’s absolutely normal to feel euphoric right now, but that my mood might crash in the next few days. At least I know.
I do feel very tired. The horrible churning of anxiety has gone. I felt it going as the proceedings went on this morning.
I know there’s still shit to get through. We have to sell the house. He has to sell the business. I’ll get half of both. I’ll get a lump sum from him in the next few days. He’ll get some of my pension (unless he dies in the next 4 months).
I’ve got closure. At last.
There are so many reasons that I should be feeling happy right now, but instead I just feel significantly and incessantly anxious. I feel as though I am aware of every thought and feeling that I have and I’ve felt like this for months now. The only respite I have is when I’m distracted or asleep. When I’m by myself it is so much worse. I think that’s the main reason that I’m anxious about being by myself. Have I overdone the CBT and mindfulness?
I am still rehearsing in my head every single thing I do. It is exhausting.
I still have constant physical symptoms of anxiety – it alternates between a gnawing ache in my chest and a butterflies feeling in my lower abdomen.
I know the reason for it. It’s the ongoing stress from the divorce and the feeling that I am stuck and I just can’t move on.
The next milestone is family court on 14th January. In the meantime I have all the stress of Christmas.
I’m not sure why I’m feeling down today. I think it might be my hormones. I keep getting a horrible low feeling that engulfs me and then the negative thoughts come. Then for a few moments I feel OK, then on and on it goes like rolling waves.
I have no real reason to feel down. Yes I’ve got the ongoing divorce stress but I feel like I’ve parked that for now.
The bank emailed me this afternoon to say that they have given me the money back that was fraudulently removed from my account. I don’t feel like celebrating – mainly because I don’t trust them not to take it back again.
I’m still seeing my new man and when I’m with him I feel great – I spent the last 4 days with him and now that he’s not here I feel overwhelmingly sad that he’s not with me . Is this why I feel low? Am I in withdrawal? Am I addicted to him? He’s still giving me mixed messages. He talks about things he’d like to do with me next year one minute, but then the next minute he makes me feel like our relationship is temporary. I’m so confused about him. Maybe I should have resisted his charm. Now I can’t imagine life without him.
I feel lost. I’m on my own in the house right now and everything is dark and quiet. I need to walk the dog but I can’t be bothered – I will force myself out for a walk with him though because I know it will make me feel better.
I just want to feel like myself again – confident, easy going, hopeful and happy. Where have I gone? I need to find myself again.
Sometimes it can feel like the whole world is against you. It certainly feels like it for me at the moment.
As well as all of the divorce stress, in the past few months I have been a victim of identity theft and have lost almost £2,700. I am stuck in a situation where HSBC and PayPal both say it’s the other one’s responsibility to pay me the money back. I am probably going to have to involve the Financial Ombudsman. I could really do with the money at the moment with the huge bills I have to pay every month to my solicitor.
Also I crashed my car into my gate 2 weeks ago and wrecked the rear wheel arch. It’s in the garage being repaired. It is the 5th time I have damaged my car in my drive over the past 2 years. I joked with the owner of the garage that they should give me a loyalty card. Again, I could really do with money to pay for the repair.
With all the crap going on in my life I must keep reminding myself of the good things.
So, here are some of the good things in no particular order: –
My children and grandchildren
My boyfriend
My girlfriends
My dog
My house
My car (!)
My job
A run with friends
A run on my own
Swimming at the local pool
My garden and the little birds who visit it
Walks with my dog, walking through fields and woodland
The smell of freshly washed bed linen
Good food and wine
Bingeworthy box sets
A good book
Chocolate
A hot cup of coffee
When it’s raining look for rainbows.
Oh, where do I start?
I am so anxious. I have constant physical symptoms – I feel it either in my abdomen as a churning feeling, or as a heavy feeling in my chest. There is no respite – it shifts from belly to chest incessantly. I don’t want to feel like this. I hate it.
I’m on my own today. I was hoping to meet my friends for coffee this morning – we meet every Wednesday – but today everyone’s busy so I’m at home – just me and my anxiety.
I’ve spent the last 2 hours tidying and cleaning. I find if I keep busy, something that involves moving around, I don’t notice the anxiety – it’s still there in the background, but I’m distracted from it.
I’m going to go shopping soon. I don’t really need anything desperately, but there are a few things I can get. It will provide more distraction.
I’m meeting a friend this evening for a meal. I’m looking forward to seeing her. But between now and then I have 8 hours to fill. When I feel like this I clock watch all day. Why do I find it so hard to be by myself?
My boyfriend was going to come and see me later. He’d forgotten about a social event that he is meant to be at this evening. He told me about it last week which was why I arranged to meet my friend. I wish I could have seen him – I’m missing him even though it’s only 2 days since he was here.
I hope one day I can put all this anxiety behind me. It’s exhausting.
I’m doing ok. I’ve got a meeting with one of my managers tomorrow to discuss returning to work.
I can’t imagine being back at work. Even the drive to work every day seems daunting.
I have to do it though. I have to pay my mortgage. If my ex would agree to sell the house I would have no mortgage. It all seems so unfair.
So, next week I’ll be back at work. Back on the horse.
When I am off work with depression the hardest thing is keeping myself busy and motivating myself to do things. Everything is so much more difficult.
Today I’m on my own until 4pm. It’s my youngest daughter’s 16th birthday. She’s popping in to see me after school – it’s not ‘my week’ so she’s not with me until Friday. I’m going to make her a birthday cake this afternoon. I’ve just been to buy candles for the cake.
So today first thing I got myself out of bed at 7.30 – that’s the latest I let myself get up. I went to an exercise class at 9.30. I’m going swimming at 12, and like I say this afternoon will be taken up by making a cake.
My body feels like sitting down and doing nothing all day. I’m having to work hard to fight that feeling. But I know the implications of not fighting it. I know where that goes – rapidly downhill to the point where I can’t do anything. Where I can’t function. Where I feel terrified to be on my own because I don’t trust myself.
My man is coming this evening. I feel like he really cares about me. I feel loved. He understands where I am right now because though he’s never been as bad with depression as I have he has stared into the abyss- he’s just never fallen in like I have.
I am getting to the point where I feel nothing for my ex – I don’t feel hatred towards him anymore. I feel frustration though. The divorce is dragging out because of him. I feel like I’m in limbo. I feel as though I am still tied to him and even still married to him. It’s a horrible feeling. He’s still controlling my life and he’s stopping me from moving on.
I read somewhere that the best way to get over someone is to get under someone else. I’m not sure how true that is, but my new relationship is the distraction I need
to keep me going, to get through the limbo. It helps that my new man is going through a similar experience to me. He is divorced but the finances haven’t been sorted out still even though he’s been divorced for 9 years now.
I don’t know when I’ll be back at work. I wasn’t enjoying my job before the depression came back. I think my job contributed to my depression. I’m not sure I want to go back to work. But if I don’t go back where does that leave me? Forever trying to keep myself busy.
Tonight I’m feeling melancholic.
I’m sat listening to the soundtrack from A Star is Born and feeling maudlin.
Things are generally going ok for me. I’m getting back into the routine of going to work. I’m adjusting better to being by myself every other week, but I’ve just dropped my youngest off at her dad’s and I’m feeling that gnawing ache of loneliness. He’s still refusing to sell the marital home. I’m fed up with the whole thing.
Everything is in for the financial settlement for the divorce. The CETV for my pension finally arrived. If we agree on everything it could all be over very soon. But I doubt he’ll agree with everything. Turns out he’s worth a lot more than me – more than twice as much. He’s not going to agree to giving me half of everything without a fight. He doesn’t think I’m entitled to any of his money. Never mind that I worked very little when the children were small and that I missed out on payments into my pension for 7 years. He’s oblivious to all of that. He just sees it all as his money. I raised his children but that counts for nothing.
Do I fight for what I’m entitled to or do I just let him keep his damn money if it makes him happy? As long as I get half the house I’ll be satisfied. Then he’ll have to move and my children won’t see his house as home just like they see my house as my house and not theirs.
I had a good day with my youngest anyway. He can’t take that away from me. I took her to get her ears pierced this morning then I took her out for afternoon tea – a real mum and daughter bonding day. I miss her so much when she’s not here.
My grandchildren are coming this evening. I should feel happy but I know they won’t be staying for long. Then I’ll be alone again – just me and the dog.
I’m having a bad time with my feelings of loneliness this week. I’ve had a busy weekend. I went for an 11.5 mile run yesterday with friends. Then in the evening I went out for a meal with new friends that I’ve met through the meetup app. Today I’ve been on a 9 mile walk with a walking group I’ve joined through meetup.
But even when I’m surrounded by lovely interesting people I still feel lonely. I have a constant ache in my chest and abdomen. I guess it’s a feeling of grief/loss. I so much want to feel happy on my own. One thing which has struck me is the feeling that I need to share my life with others – that’s what I really miss. There is no-one here to tell things to – someone to talk to about what I’ve done with my day. It’s almost like I feel that I don’t even exist if I can’t tell someone else what I’ve been doing. It is so weird – I don’t want to feel like this but I just can’t shake it off.
People keep telling me that time does heal and it will get easier.
I hope so.
this is me again 