Wednesday, March 23, 2011

The Four P’s of Happiness Post-Divorce

I’m really liking Joe Wilner’s 4 P’s of happiness for the post-divorce period.

Pleasure – There is definitely a need for most of us to focus on increasing pleasure post-divorce. With divorce you lose whatever pleasure you had from activities you enjoyed with your spouse. You may have to replace those activities with new ones, engage in those activity alone, or with other people. Engage in a pleasurable activity today.

People – In addition to losing the daily interactions with your spouse, you may also lose their friends and family, often an integral part of your village. It’s important to bring new people into your village, or rekindle relationships with people who’ve drifted away. Call a friend or email someone you’ve lost touch with. Connect with someone today.

Purpose – Making progress toward identifying your purpose in life, why you are on the planet, is something that increases happiness. The post-divorce period is a most important time to reconsider this issue, or consider it for the first time. Bringing more meaning to your life will help ease the difficulties you face post-divorce. Hold a door open for someone, clean a friend’s house, volunteer time with a charity. Do something meaningful today.

Passion – Closely aligned with purpose is finding your passion. Maybe you’ve already found it, and it’s part of your daily life. Great, do more of it. Maybe you’ve put some things on the back burner that you would find fulfilling and exciting. Find your flow baby. Spend some time in an activity that you’re passionate about today.

Practice one P today or participate in a plethora of P’s, but happiness post-divorce is a passion to be purposefully pursued.

Happiness. The Fray

2 comments:

  1. That's a nice concise list! I think trying keep those simple "P"s in line, daily is a good way to stay on track...and not fall down the post-divorce zombie spiral.

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  2. Thanks for your comment. I hope you won't mind me using "post-divorce zombie spiral." Great turn of phrase.

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