To My Dear Friend Facing a Divorce She Never Wanted

I’m so sorry for your loss.

This isn’t a place you ever imagined yourself to be.
You didn’t ask for it.
You didn’t want it.
You don’t deserve it.
It wasn’t your actions that brought you here.
It wasn’t your decisions.
But here you are.

It’s hard.
You grieve a loss unlike any other.
Hopes were dashed.
Dreams crushed.
Promises broken.
You grieve a future that you were willing to work for… but that would never exist in reality.
You grieve for something you thought you had…. but never was.
And now definitely never will be.

It’s hard.
It’s raw.
It’s definitely not fair.
The loss is real.

But now.
Now you face a new future.
So many emotions.
Not all of them wanted.
But here you are.

The storm clouds will clear. The rain will become sweet and warm. The sun will shine again.
And one day you’ll wake up and realize you’re smiling all the time.
Maybe not today.
But it’s coming.

This isn’t the life you wanted… it isn’t the treatment you deserved.
But what if you looked at this new future, this new and unasked-for reality, as a gift?

Take what you’ve been given, and gift yourself the things that you truly value:
A life that you love.
A life you deserve.
A life full of dreams both dreamt… and also realized.
Full of hopes both created… and also fulfilled.
Full of promises both made… and also kept.
A home full of all the love and kindness and joy and compassion that flows, now unquenched, from your soul.
From your heart.
From your lips.
From your very being.

A home your children will love to return to long after they’ve created homes of their own.
A home where you are safe on every level.
All the time.
Where you smile when you wake up.
And you smile as you crawl into bed.

It should have been different.
It wasn’t what you chose.
But this future that awaits you now?

It will be so much better than was even possible before. 

So congratulations.
Your beyond-blessed future awaits!