I’m sharing my reading of an excerpt from my latest book, The Wine Diaries: Musings on Divorce Paired With Wine. From Chapter 4, Life Unexpected, I read “What I’ve Learned So Far”. This is one of my favorite essays in the book. I think you will relate to the message that small, compounded moments make up what we call our LIFE. That’s why those moments are so important and even more so than the big, dramatic ones that we anticipate for months or even years.

A list of ten things seems to be a nice way to reflect on complex issues. You can check out my previous post listing 10 Things I Wish I Knew Before My Divorce. Although today’s list is similar, I wanted to emphasize some new points.

It’s like my older self is telling my younger (about to get divorced) self, what to expect.

Photo by Kyle Broad on Unsplash

It’s no secret that the initial stages of divorce prove to be the most dangerous time in a woman’s life. Yet, we tend to remain positively naive. That makes sense of course, because we’re going through so much for the first time and we are unaware of the hidden or subtle vulnerabilities.

Happy Sunday, Escapees. Today I’m over at Vishnu’s blog answering some burning divorce questions. I think you will find this an interesting interview and one worth sharing with loved ones who may be thinking about divorce right now. Here’s a snippet;

What led you to leave your marriage?

Well, I guess you won’t be surprised when I say it was multiple things rather than one event. It was many small and big things over many years that ultimately led to the demise of my marriage. I finally accepted my unhappiness at the core of my being and gave myself permission to accept that life wasn’t turning out the way I expected. I faced the fact that it had to change. I realized too that ending a marriage, knowing what we need in our life to live authentically, is a very personal matter.

Today’s post is written and sponsored by Canterbury Law Group out of Scottsdale Arizona.

Their tips are spot on and this is a must read for anyone thinking of ending their marriage…

 We all know divorce has become common over the last several decades. Although there may be certain factors associated with divorce that are negative, at least women (and men) today can divorce a spouse and move on to achieve a healthy, happy and thriving future. Women today don’t need to be in a marriage to live a full life; we can prosper on our own.

#1000VoicesSpeak for Compassion today and on the 20th of every month. The subject this month? CONNECTION. We don’t always feel it. My first thought on this topic was how often I have felt disconnected but my constant connection has been nature. If you ever feel alone or lonely…

“Courage is found in unlikely places.”-J.R.R Tolkien

Two things you’ll need to make any major change in your life are a shot of courage and a slice of bravery. Actually, before you even begin to make the changes you’ll need to identify and admit to the necessity of that change. That’s where we especially need a shot of courage and that’s only the beginning. The rest is getting from here to where we want to be.

I get many questions coming in from readers all over the world. I like to feature a question that  many women can relate to. It’s valuable to share and discuss common questions readers have about their divorce but sometimes I get questions about a failing marriage.  I usually respond in a gentle way. Here on the blog we can explore this scenario further. I can be a little more harsh…tell it like it is as they say.

I’m working on a series of videos with ‘bite sized’ tips.  All of the videos will cover topics related to divorce.  I wanted to share one of them here because  it’s a very important topic.  Telling your kids…making that dreaded announcement.  You can guess that we’re not going to say “Honey, your Dad and I have decided to concsiously uncouple.”  No.  Not happening.