Surviving Divorce: Laughter Can Be the Best Medicine

There I stood, 29 years old, four children and faced with having to move back home with my mother. I was angry, I was depressed. I wanted to crawl into a ball and stay there forever. After all, to stand up would mean that I would have to face the reality that my outwardly 'perfect' marriage was nothing more than a mirage, a facade. I wasn't ready to do that--or was I.

No matter how hurt I was, no matter how down I was, I decided to laugh. I decided to create my own fun and in doing so, I saved my own life.

No one enters a marriage thinking that he/she will be divorced in a matter of years. No one enters that sacred union with negativity and thoughts that it is only temporary. For the most part, we approach marriage with the ideas of growing old with our partner, rocking quietly next to our spouse in the cushioned wicker chair on the porch and watching the school children hop, skip and giggle down the sidewalk. We envision raising the children, taking retirement trips across the states or world for that matter. But do we ever stop to think about adultry, betrayal, lies and just plain unhappiness? To do so, would destroy the fairytale that we have built up to become 'marriage'.

When faced with divorce, no matter what the cause or reason, most of us find ourselves in a downward spiral of denial, self blame, and/or depression. We wallow in pity and just want the world to stop revolving. For in the stop of time, we can be allowed infinite time to recuperate--we can be allowed plenty of time to feel sorry for ourselves. But the truth is, no matter what, no matter how hard or difficult the divorce may be, the world will not stop, everyday life will not cease to exist and neither will the pain that we may feel inside.