101 Ways to Move Forward After a Midlife Divorce

Tip #87. Get Involved. Get totally involved in something today. I mean something other than your midlife divorce. Your recovery journey will be shorter and more complete if you completely redirect your physical energies in other directions. Get totally immersed in something besides your sadness and despair. Find a worthy charity and go volunteer. Go door to door for a political candidate you find worthy. Visit a nursing home. Clean your garage. Last Sunday afternoon, I put on my sweats and tennis shoes and completely cleaned our bedroom and bathroom top to bottom. I opened the windows wide. Took everything off the bed; turned the mattress over; sorted the magazines that had piled up; dusted; wiped down the baseboards; totally cleaned everything in the bathroom. Since I am somewhat of a political junkie, I turned on my favorite election channel as I worked. Music is great, too. But I was totally, totally immersed in cleaning those two rooms. Now they look fantastic. They smell fantastic. It gives me a great feeling to walk into that area of the house. Today, whether it’s at work or at home or after work, put your whole mind and heart into doing something as well and as thoroughly as you can. Even if it’s one corner of one room. Or organizing your files. You’ll find great satisfaction, and if you’re totally involved, you’ll discover you haven’t thought about your “sad” situation even once. That in itself is worth it all!