I Believe in Divorce

Every ending is a beginning.

(Source: Piqsels)

This morning, I had a dream about my ex-wife. The details are personal and interesting only to me, but it reminded me of this topic about which I have long wanted to write. Just a brief expression of a lesson I feel is important. I believe in divorce and in the larger ideal of which divorce is an example.

I have no animosity toward my ex. We had an mostly amicable parting. But I am very happy we are no longer married — an emotion I have felt for a long time. Not immediately, of course, because even though I wanted the ending, it was the death of a relationship, one that we had hoped would last much longer.

Marriage for life is a wonderful ideal. It can’t be an absolute rule though. People make mistakes, and sometimes a marriage is a mistake. Some people never should have gotten married. Maybe they were too young to understand what they were doing and why. Maybe they felt pressured to enter a marriage they didn’t really want. And, of course, people change, and the reasons to be together are no longer there.

When something isn’t working, you need to change what you are doing. A marriage commitment absolutely should not be broken on a whim, but if both people are unhappy, what is the point of continuing? Suffering is not noble, and staying in a bad situation to fulfill a social…