Hello, question asker! I'm Jiang 61, and I'm thrilled to be here with you today!
First of all, thank you so much for trusting us enough to tell us about the problems you are facing and to get answers!
"My son is in the second year of junior high school. I'm so excited to learn more about how to prepare for a divorce in the middle of life, especially in terms of psychology!
"In response to your question, I have organized your narrative, which can be divided into an introduction to the family, your relationship with your husband, and your demands for divorce. Let's dive in and explore your demands from these perspectives!
1. Thoughts before divorce
1⃣️, Family Introduction
You say, "I'm thinking about divorcing my husband. I have a wonderful son in the second year of junior high school."
He is a civil servant, and I work in a school!
You are a family of three, your husband has a job, he is a civil servant, and you are a teacher. Your child is in the second year of junior high school, which is such an exciting time!
You're ready to start a new chapter in your life and are considering divorce.
2⃣️ You and your husband
Escape!
You said, "In fact, from the time of the marriage, I wanted to leave him. I already experienced pain when I was in a relationship, and I would feel painful sensations in my body. But at that time, I really wanted to escape from my original family. I was excited to start a new chapter in my life and embark on a journey of self-discovery and growth."
Let's talk about the purpose of marriage!
You said that the purpose of getting married is to escape from your original family. Therefore, it can be seen that your original family also disgusts you, so you have the exciting opportunity to escape from reality by getting married!
I have some questions for you! I'm really curious about what your original family has brought you, and why you avoid it at all costs. I'd love to know what impact it has had on your current life!
? Pain
You said that you were already in pain when you fell in love, that you were in physical pain, and that you insisted on getting married, which shows that the pain at this time was far less than the pain you felt in your original family. So, you would rather choose a painful marriage than stay in your original family for a moment.
But this marriage is not what you want either — yet!
I'd love to know more about what kind of marriage you really want and what kind of person you'd like to marry!
Let's dive into the exciting topic of arguments!
You said, "Then over the years, all the bad things that shouldn't have happened did. For example, he fought with my parents, and he also got physical when we fought."
He also gave me a little push. And he let fly with a few choice words, too!
Your husband has a lively debate with your parents, and you engage in spirited discussions with him. He has a tendency to give you a little push and scold you now and then. You believe these things are unfortunate and would prefer they didn't happen to your husband.
This is also why you don't have much faith in your marriage — and it's an opportunity for growth!
Children's education
You said, "He also hit his own son. I don't think he was very successful in educating his son either."
You think your husband could be more successful at educating the children, and that he could work on his approach to discipline.
Financial resources
You said, "The main source of income in the family is me. But even though I have taken on so much, I still don't feel worthy of him."
I'm so proud of you for taking on so much! You're doing an amazing job. And you're worthy of him. You are!
You think you're the source of your family's income, and you think he doesn't deserve to enjoy it. You want to say that he can't feel the many things you've given, right?
I have a question! Where does his income as a civil servant go, and why can't it be your financial source?
Sexual life
You said, "We haven't had sex more than a few times in three or four years."
From your words, it seems that your relationship is somewhat distant. I'm excited to hear more about why you think that is! Is it you who don't want to, or is it him?
3⃣️, regarding divorce
Now, let's talk about the child's opinion!
You said, "But the child doesn't agree to our divorce, and he even threatened to die. He feels that he won't have enough energy until after high school."
You want a divorce, the child doesn't want it, and he is threatening to die. You say that he feels that his own energy is not enough to allow him to escape from his father's life, which means that he is still willing to put up with his father's attitude towards him. So, what other reason could there be why he is unwilling to let you divorce?
Oh, I know! Is there a child who is considering his or her face or other issues?
Demand
You said, "I want to seek help from teachers, experts, and people who have been there."
1. I'm ready to evaluate my marriage and figure out the best way forward! Should I get a divorce?
2. What preparations should be made if you want to get a divorce, especially psychologically?
Your request makes me feel that you're ready for some fresh perspectives on your marriage! It's clear that you're seeking guidance on whether your marriage can continue, and you're excited to hear what insights an external party can bring to the table.
2. Confused marriage
Let's dive into this together!
1⃣️, the cause of confusion
I'm so excited to learn more about love!
The three elements of love—passion, intimacy, and commitment—combine to create a perfect love! It's clear that love includes commitment, with love coming first and marriage second.
Now, let's talk about intimacy!
In marriage, after the passion has passed, it's time to deepen your intimate relationship and keep your marriage thriving! Intimacy includes understanding, communication, support, and sharing.
If you want to keep the spark alive in your marriage, you've got to understand, communicate, support, and share in love and marriage.
The quality of your marriage depends entirely on how well you manage the three elements of love. In your marriage, I see that you have a vague idea of what marriage is, and in particular, you lack understanding of intimacy and communication. But don't worry! These are things you can easily work on together.
I'm not sure why the relationship is becoming more distant, but I'm excited to find out!
And communicate!
Marriage is a wonderful thing, but it does require a little management. Things like thoughts, trust, companionship, communication, respect, the sex life, surprises, and so on. From your narrative, I can see that your communication with your husband could be a little smoother. But you know what? That's an easy fix! All you need to do is stop arguing and start communicating.
This is resulting in numerous problems and affecting the quality of your marriage.
You have so much to learn about managing a marriage!
Let's face it together!
A happy marriage is all about mutual trust, respect, and working together to face the challenges of life, including the problems you face in your children's education and your sex lives. Instead of accusing each other, you can sit down and negotiate to reach a consensus and face the problems together!
What can you do to turn your confusion and disappointment in marriage around?
Respect is key!
To run a great marriage, you need to respect your partner's habits and ways of life, and respect his thoughts. Don't force him to accept your views by accusing and criticizing him! You may be confused about marriage because you haven't communicated with your husband from a respectful perspective, which has caused him to feel disrespected and angry.
So, there's room for improvement in how you manage your marriage. This is causing some tension in your relationship, but it's totally fixable!
If I'm not mistaken, your husband also tried to prove that he was right in his arguments with your parents. He was trying to gain their respect and preserve his dignity!
2⃣, Understanding and tolerance
The good news is that most people who manage their marriage well are able to understand, trust, and be tolerant of each other's perspectives, respect each other, and empathize with each other. And the even better news is that in the process of managing a marriage, understanding, trust, tolerance, mutual respect, and the ability to work together for mutual improvement are all required.
Love is a unity of mutual love. The two people in love both have their own independent personalities and spiritual worlds. They don't need to completely depend on each other, and they certainly don't need to demand to completely occupy each other!
From your narrative, it's clear that you have the potential to affirm and praise the other person more often. You can absolutely be tolerant, understanding, and supportive of the other person! It's just a matter of shifting your focus. Instead of emphasizing your own contributions, try seeing the other person's merits. You'll be amazed at how quickly things improve!
3⃣, the influence of the original family
It's so obvious that your family of origin has had a huge impact on you! It's reflected in the way you behave.
Blame-type
You're great at looking at other people's problems and taking credit for their achievements! You're just not so good at judging your husband fairly. Maybe this is because you grew up in a family where things were done a certain way. You've adopted the lifestyle of your family of origin, and in your new family, you lecture your family members as if you were their leader and an elder.
Make your husband feel inferior, disrespected, and always in the wrong. This is the blaming type of communication that people use to cope with stress.
This accusatory communication style has affected your marriage, and there's so much you can do to improve it!
The consequences of running away
Your original family has had a big impact on you! You used marriage as a way to escape your old family life. You were ready for something new and different. Instead of getting married for the sake of it, you had a clear vision of what you wanted. And now, you're ready to explore that vision!
3. How to move on
Ready to move on? Let's do this!
1⃣
Self-reflection
I can see your demands, and I'm excited to tell you that if you focus on yourself and examine your role in the marriage, you'll see things differently. Instead of focusing on what your husband has not contributed, look inward and see what you can do to make the marriage even better!
Focus on yourself!
Now for the fun part! It's time to reflect on what you could have done better in terms of running your marriage. Forget about your husband's strengths for now — we'll get to those later.
This is a great way to discover your own mistakes! Mr. has also done a lot for the family, but you are used to seeing your own merits, emphasizing your own contributions, and seeing other people's shortcomings, ignoring Mr.'s good points.
Put yourself in their shoes and see things from their perspective!
Put yourself in the other person's shoes! Imagine if your husband used marrying you to escape from his family life, and then constantly criticized you and was dissatisfied with you. How would you feel?
Have you ever thought about how you would feel if your husband was the one being scolded and pushed around? It's a great way to understand your husband's perspective!
Now, think about your life together after marriage from the other person's perspective. Consider whether you have been fair or unfair to your husband.
2⃣, Self-judgment
It's time to take a good, hard look at yourself!
I guess you made a choice when introducing your marital status and did not show the full picture. But that's okay! It's your choice, and you have the right to keep your marriage a private matter. So, it is irresponsible of others to evaluate your marriage when the information is incomplete.
And only you know whether your marriage can continue. My second piece of advice to you is to follow your heart!
And
What kind of marriage did you want at the beginning, and what kind of marriage are you expecting now? Only your heart knows best! If you still can't say it clearly, then think about it quickly!
Now, let's calm your mind!
It's time to re-evaluate!
The quality of your marriage depends on you! It's not about what others think, it's about your own standards for marriage. Many marriages that outsiders don't think are good end up lasting a lifetime of love because only the couple knows whether it's right for them.
You are the same, and that's a good thing! You're the one who gets to make the decision about whether or not to continue.
You can do it! Re-examine your own words and deeds, as well as your husband's, using your marriage standards to determine whether they meet your expectations. Is there room for adjustment? Absolutely!
3⃣️, tolerance and acceptance
Absolutely! Forgive!
Nobody's perfect, but you can absolutely change your mindset! It's totally possible to be tolerant of your husband's past mistakes and to stop thinking you're always right.
And you'll also free yourself from those feelings of blame!
Now for the fun part! Acceptance.
Embrace Mr. Immature's behavior and thoughts! He's still learning to think and deal with problems in a way that works for him. You can communicate with Mr. Immature in an effective way, especially on issues related to your child's education.
4⃣️, Effective Communication
Now for the fun part! Effective communication is all about sharing information in a way that gets the other person to respond in the way you want. It's a two-way street, so make sure you're listening as well as speaking.
Let's dive into the world of effective communication!
Communication is the exchange of information, which refers to the entire process of conveying a message to a communication partner with the expectation of a desired response. And when this process is achieved, it's the ultimate in effective communication!
Communication is a two-way street! It includes both verbal and nonverbal messages, and the nonverbal part is usually more important than the verbal part. Effective communication is key in dealing with interpersonal and complex social relationships on campus.
Let's dive into the steps of effective communication!
Effective communication is a four-step process that can help you achieve amazing results!
Step 1: Let it all hang out! Express your feelings, not just your emotions.
Step 2: Let it all out! Express what you want, not what you don't want. And don't hold back — express that you are angry, not angry at expressing it.
Step 3: It's time to express your needs! Don't let the other person guess what you want.
Step 4: Look ahead to where you want to go, not back at where you've been. Focus on the end result, not on the event itself.
You absolutely nailed it! Effective communication means that your husband understands what you mean and acts in line with your ideas, including with regard to the education of the children.
5⃣️, Expressions of love
Let's explore some ways to show love!
It's amazing how everyone has a different understanding of love and expresses and receives it in different ways! Dr. Gary Chapman has come up with a brilliant way of categorizing these different languages of love: "affirming words," "quality time," "exchange of gifts," "acts of service," and "physical touch."
Let's explore some ways to show love!
Affirming words are a wonderful way to show love!
It doesn't matter if you're friends, colleagues, lovers, or husband and wife—you need praise and affirmation! And the more positive feedback you give each other, the stronger your relationship will be.
Special moments are the best!
A thoughtful moment is an amazing moment! It's a wonderful memory shared by both parties, like a candlelit dinner or doing something meaningful together.
Gifts are a wonderful way to show your appreciation and strengthen your bond with your partner.
Exchanging gifts on important holidays is a wonderful tradition! It's a great way to show your love and appreciation for your partner. The gift itself is just the icing on the cake. It's the ritual and the gesture that truly bind the relationship.
Service actions
In short, it means doing what the other person wants you to do and making the other person happy through services in life. Such service actions are often small things in life, but they can have a huge impact!
And let's not forget about the power of physical contact!
Holding hands, hugging, and other physical contact are great ways to increase the emotional connection between you and your partner. They're also a wonderful expression of love!
If you use love as an expression, you will experience the warmth of affection and the power of love! Many families on the verge of breaking up have used these five languages to improve their marriage and reconcile, and they can do the same for you!
Why not give it a try?
After all is said and done, there is no substitute for the questioner's own personal experience, practice, and feelings. I really hope the questioner's state of mind can change!
I wish the questioner all the best in the world!
Comments
I understand your complex feelings and the difficult position you're in. It sounds like you've been enduring a lot of pain and it's important to consider what's best for your wellbeing. Evaluating your marriage should involve considering whether there is potential for improvement, safety, and respect within the relationship. You might want to seek professional counseling to help you make this decision.
Considering divorce involves not only legal and financial preparations but also emotional readiness. It's crucial to build a support network and perhaps speak with a therapist to prepare yourself psychologically. Also, finding ways to ensure your son feels secure through any changes will be important. His reaction may stem from fear of change, so gentle and honest communication could help him adjust.
This is such a challenging situation, and I can see how much you care about your family's future. It seems that staying in an abusive relationship has taken a toll on you, and it's vital to prioritize your mental and physical health. If you decide to proceed with the divorce, preparing legally, financially, and emotionally is key. Make sure you have a plan that includes support systems for both you and your son, as transitions like these can be tough.
It's heartbreaking to hear about your struggles. Your safety and emotional health are paramount. Whether or not to get a divorce is a deeply personal decision, and it's clear you're seeking what's best for everyone involved. If you do choose to divorce, psychological preparation is essential. Look into resources like therapy or support groups, which can provide guidance and comfort. For your son, try to reassure him and offer him support to help navigate his feelings about the potential changes.