The realization that you’re not meant for each other is a brutal one, disrupting more than just your emotions. Long-established personal beliefs, your sense of direction in life, the faithfulness you both promised each other – all of this is thrown into confusion. While divorce is rarely settled upon lightly, and the signs are often showing for quite some time, many people experience a single moment in which they realize that there is no going back.
Shattered and lost, many people in this position begin to question their purpose in life as the identity they held only moments ago is rendered meaningless. In the empty space that love has vacated, they must foster the energy and the will to move on. For others, however, it feels like they have been released from old chains, and all they feel is a sweet sense of freedom. Read the stories shared by people who’ve loved and paid the price.
Poor Form in an Emergency
Anxiety goes over the roof when a child is admitted to a hospital. Pending the doctor’s diagnosis, unaware of what to expect in a day or two, dark thoughts of losing a loved one creep in.
The best way to deal with a situation like this is through prayer and time spent together consoling each other. It’s natural to want to seek distraction from time to time. However, it’s simply unacceptable that the husband went golfing when he was needed emotionally and physically by his family.
Excessive Phone Bills
We’re expected to marry for the right reasons, such as love, undeniable compatibility, deeply shared beliefs, and the inability to even imagine the thought of life without the other. Regardless of your reasoning, marriage should be a union that uplifts both people.
Conflicting values can easily end a relationship. It’s awful to learn that your other half can be capable of despicable things. This poor woman discovered that her husband was involved with a teenager, and he was texting with the fervor of one too.
Absentee Parent
Poor parenting will ultimately reflect in a child’s personality. Lack of trust is a natural flow-on effect of being betrayed by a parent time and time again, despite renewed promises otherwise. There comes a point when a spouse must decide to protect the child against their other half.
Mothers are supposed to build a positive relationship with their children. Indeed, no one else is expected to understand a child more than their mother does. No mom should be too busy for her little ones.
Questionable Behavior
Break-ups are terribly difficult, especially when you are involved with someone you think you know completely until one day you don’t. This might have been the culmination of a series of changing events you missed. Though it crept up slowly, now you feel like you are living with a perfect stranger.
Emotions cloud our judgment. We become blinded by what would have been clear red flags of unhealthy behavior to an outsider. It is time to move on or else risk being dragged down into the depths of unhappiness.
The Point of No Return
No matter how hard you try to control yourself, things can get bad in an argument. In the heat of the moment, you end up using words that you shouldn’t, and the point is lost. Couples cease contending for what’s right, the truth stops mattering, and it becomes a contest to see who can inflict the most damage with their words.
Trivial comments can lead to big fights that happen with increasing regularity if you don’t learn how to communicate effectively with your partner. You know the time for divorce has come when love has turned to hate.
Left Alone
You would expect a spouse to at least be by your hospital bed as a reassuring presence. After all, isn’t marriage largely about companionship and living the rest of your life with your best friend? This is the person who is supposed to know your fears and how to allay them in times of sickness.
A husband ought to be able to take care of his wife in ways even a professional caregiver can’t. However, this man decided to dodge his responsibilities to his wife and his daughter. He learned his lesson when he received the divorce papers.
Unreliable Backup
Few couples go into marriage believing that their shared life will be a bed of roses. Indeed, the marriage vows even make it clear that you must remain faithful, even during tough times. It’s a sweet assurance to know that you both have each other’s back moving forward, in good times or bad.
If your supposed soulmate reneges when direly needed, this is not a good sign. If you need comfort and support during a genuinely difficult time, and your spouse doesn’t go the extra mile to be with you, it’s the beginning of the end.
Pay Attention to Gut Feelings
It is possible to feel strongly for a person and still have reservations. All the elements you desire in a relationship are present but something is lacking that you can’t quite put into words. Instead of taking your time to answer the whys, you decide to commit fully to someone in the hope that the void you can’t pinpoint will fill itself.
Marriage does not work as a stopgap measure. When this woman finally came to terms with her feelings, she knew the time had come to be completely honest with her husband and say, “It’s not you, it’s me.”
Talk Turkey
Communication is key for any relationship to work. Nowadays, many of us are preoccupied with workday worries, but couples can still send texts and emails or make short calls to stay emotionally connected. It is essential to keep communication open so minor misunderstandings don’t grow into major disagreements.
This is what happens when spouses do not spend time together or discuss the things that may be bothering them. Who can tell what’s going through someone’s head if questions remain unasked and no one attempts to reach out? It’s a bomb waiting to explode, and in this case, it did.
Challenging Old Beliefs
We are past the 1950s when wives were expected to work at home, handling all the chores and child-rearing responsibilities. Conditions have changed drastically, and in modern times, both spouses can bring home the bacon. Of course, this isn’t just about the money.
Wives need self-development too. Jobs outside of the household give them a sense of fulfillment and self-worth, and this gives additional financial security in case something happens to the main breadwinner of the house. She couldn’t be caged by old beliefs anymore.
Intoxicating Punishments
Some people expect their partners to read their minds and get mad when their brain waves aren’t perfectly interpreted. Instead of letting a person know what’s up or explaining what they should have done, these people become passive-aggressive, pouting and making daily life a draining experience.
The blaring silence at home robbed this man of his peace of mind and kept him confused. It became a toxin that made him sick until he could no longer take its vicious cycle. That last line was perfectly phrased: “You rob me of solitude but provide me with no companionship.” Ouch.
Nothing in Common
The first year of marriage is a mix of the honeymoon stage and subtle adjustments to the newness of living together. It is the building of a strong foundation that ought to last the test of time. To achieve this goal, a couple must constantly learn from each other and be prepared to compromise.
Sadly, the past sometimes catches up to you. If you marry for the wrong reasons, they won’t just magically transform after a few years. Instead, they make for shaky foundations on which a couple will struggle to build a strong relationship. Maybe some people manage to make it through, but this couple sure didn’t.
The Path to Enlightenment
Spouses should encourage each other to stay fit because it is through health that we can all truly appreciate life and all its blessings. Exercise also improves our mood due to the endorphins released by physical activity.
It’s a good idea for couples to do things together so they don’t grow apart. Experiences should be shared, or like this couple, you may drift apart. Of course, there were surely other reasons behind the rift. It seems yoga put her on a higher plane.
Self-Centeredness
Lovers should also be best friends. The first person who should come to your aid and show understanding when you make a mistake should be your spouse. However, many lovers become overly sensitive towards each other after they marry, eager to criticize even for the smallest lapses.
If you’ve ever found yourself in a situation similar to the one described above, you probably had a moment of wondering why your partner had become your harshest critic. Instead of throwing all her love and energy into the relationship, this woman chose to throw the cat.
Love’s Opposite
This man played with fire and got hurt. When a relationship first starts breaking down, the anger and betrayal burn inside, manifesting in sleepless nights and dull mornings. Cheating makes the other person question themselves, but after a while, they may simply go numb.
This woman realized that her partner’s philandering caused her no pain – not even a sense of bruised pride. This signaled that she may have fallen out of love long before his double-crossing. She attempted to care, but her efforts evoked nothing at all.
Sick and Tired of Him
The sight of a hospital bed summons ghastly thoughts of being put under the knife, heightening anxiety and paranoia. Life begins to be re-evaluated in your mind, and many questions are raised about all the possible outcomes. Most people know that they do want to go on living, but many realize that they don’t want to carry on as they were before.
Pushed to the edge, this woman’s priorities rearranged themselves. She realized she couldn't live anymore with someone who made her feel sick and tired all the time. SHe didn’t want to die – she just wanted to be free from her husband.
Shared Responsibilities
Itineraries can be arranged to ensure everyone has a fair share of the responsibilities, taking in various factors, such as work schedules, school pick-up time, and home duties. This doesn’t have to be a permanent fixture in their partnership. It’s more of a give-and-take scenario, just to get things rolling smoothly.
Spouses must follow the rules and stick to their agreements. This husband deliberately failed to keep his promises and the partnership crumbled. His wife couldn’t be with someone she could not count on when it mattered most.
Can’t Bridge the Gap
It sounds interesting when some people say that opposites attract, and perhaps in certain cases, this happens to work. There must be a constant pull, an itch that makes them yearn to be with somebody they are not similar to, a constant attraction towards a divergent type.
Unfortunately, this couple got past that initial stage with their mutual curiosities satiated. Their need for companionship is now anchored to a longing for similar values, dreams, and priorities. The time has come for them to take a different tack.
An Odd Solution
The decision to have a baby should be borne by both future parents, and it must be made for the right reasons. Rearing a child comes with countless challenges, sleepless nights, and a need for limitless patience. It’s a lifelong commitment that brings a couple closer when done right.
It’s a different story when the husband thinks having a baby will serve as a band-aid solution for their growing differences. It’s a desperate plan that offers no concrete answers to a problem that’s caused by something else.
Absolute Authority
Living together should not feel like being under a dictatorship. There must be ways to work things out, so both spouses feel they are a part of something more valuable than their individual self.
Also, marriage isn’t a tripartite agreement. This woman lost her patience when her husband thought he could step on her pride whenever he wanted and still rule over her life.
Change Is Constant
Isn’t it funny how we are no longer the person we were years ago and yet we still are? Things change, and daily experiences change us too. A devoted couple should be open to loving their future selves, come what may.
It is hard to understand how a person could be so hard-nosed when it comes to personal growth. Refusing to grow means they'll be facing the same problems in cycles for the rest of their life.
Plateaued Relationship
Arguments can be healthy for a couple. It simply means some emotions need to be expressed so compromises can be made. Refuse to express how you’re feeling, and you may end up like this couple.
The chemistry in their relationship is long gone, and their growth has plateaued. They both need a new spark in their lives, but one that’s experienced independently from each other.
A Waste of Energy
Emotionally exhausted and pushed over the tipping point, this woman finally felt the need to reserve something for herself. Whatever brought her into the marriage had long since dissipated thanks to being put down too often.
Sadly, indifference took over the place where love used to dwell. The right decision had to be made, not just based on emotion, but for her daughters. This mom shielded them from the negativity by removing them from the situation.
Posting Problems on Social Media
Not everyone needs to know what a person is going through, much less the private struggles of a couple. Yet some love to post things publicly on social media, reveling in the immediate reaction it attracts.
Posting private things in a public forum doesn’t solve the problems a couple is going through. It appears to make light of the situation, even embarrassing the partner who never consented to having their private life shared.
Fresh Start
Tucked away in this man’s room is a trove of all his wife’s faults and flaws. This inventory of negative traits was written down by a spouse who gloats in his own perfection.
This woman is resigned to her inability to tackle her husband’s mental condition. He used her throughout the marriage and justified his actions without a tinge of remorse. She realized nothing good could come out of keeping the relationship.
Repeat Offender
Cheating on a spouse is almost impossible to forgive, at least not in the way you would an honest miscalculation. It is a series of acts that could only have been perpetrated deliberately.
This, plus the fact that she had cheated on him in the past with the same person, was sufficient for this man to know the marriage was over. She could never be trusted again at this point. Their marriage had met its doom.
Bleak Future
They had spent some good times together, the experience of which made this man assume they had a meeting of the minds regarding the things they wanted for themselves, a common sharing of dreams and aspirations. The future can be an exciting topic of conversation if you have things to look forward to together. However, in an instant, his wife saw that their visions of the future did not match.
All the while, they had been at cross-purposes without knowing it. At least she had her realization sooner rather than later. It would be awful to have this dawn on you at your retirement party!
A Distressing Vacation
It was supposed to be a mini family reunion, but the husband took it as an opportunity to work on his extra-marital mischief. His wife had to dodge expository questions from her parents about his conspicuous absence, citing work as an excuse, and changing the topic quickly.
Preoccupied with juggling his latest affair and immediate responsibilities, he overlooked the return of his family, which had now become a low priority. If not that day, the cheater was bound to make a mistake sooner or later.
Higher Expectations
Spouses should not be a hindrance to their partner’s dreams but a reliable helpmate in achieving them. This common goal works as a unifier, connecting a couple through continuing collaborations.
This husband could not live up to his wife's standards, which weighed her down. She buried herself in her career, anesthetized by their time apart until it only made sense to permanently separate.
Not a Role Model
This man must have been fun to be with for a while, otherwise, his wife wouldn’t have had mixed feelings about losing him. However, he didn’t have the maturity and personal traits that we all long for in a father.
Pushing him to change could only result in an unacceptable marriage legacy she knew she would regret. Perhaps her measure of a good partner may be useful to some other people out there. If you wouldn’t want your child to turn out like your partner, perhaps they aren’t relationship material.
Hurtful Silence
The most encouraging couples know how to work as a team. They not only understand that tough times could come to test their will but expect it. These strong couples work together so they can adapt to any situation and navigate their way through it together. This cannot be done without proper communication.
It hurt this woman to find out that her husband was not the kind of person who’d do what it takes to save their marriage. Worse, he set her aside with his hurtful silence.
Faux Pas Detection
Children are the light of the house – little angels of the family. Perhaps this little angel was sent to give a delicate message, to save the interests and dignity of his father, a man who put so much on the line to serve his family.
Whenever he stepped out for work, another man took his place in the household. After being betrayed in his own home, in front of his own child, this man didn’t hesitate to end the toxic relationship.
Definition of Love
Love is not easy to define. However, we all have a sense of what it is. Though it may be hard to put this into words, you can see whether you have matching definitions by observing each other’s actions.
When each member of a couple has a drastically different definition of love, you have a breeding ground for conflict that will grow when their actions and expressions of love do not match. With such irreconcilable views, the end of the relationship seems inevitable.
A Marriage of Convenience
It’s difficult to tell how this couple fell in love in the first place. It is clear that she didn’t love him for the person he was but only for what she could get out of him. Though partners should always do things to help each other, this isn’t the only value they should hold.
Ending their marriage was the only call to make. We hope the man finds a partner who appreciates how kind and helpful he is. We also hope the woman learns to appreciate people for more than just what they can do for her.
Biting Remarks
The strain brought about by the lifetime contract of marriage may be overwhelming at times. There will be conflicting opinions, financial obstacles, chores, and emotional demands throughout the relationship.
If marriage feels like a cage and your loved ones feel like burdens, the best way to deal with this is to seek professional help and then tactfully communicate with your spouse. This husband blew his lid and ended up getting divorced.