Your first set of holidays after your divorce will be weird, scary, and painful – but they’ll also be happy, joyful, and unexpectedly fun if you let them. The key, I think, is to feel your feelings. It’s okay if you’re having a day that isn’t holly and jolly. It’s alright if you sit down to write in your gratitude journal and struggle to come up with anything aside from Well, I changed out of my PJs today.
I don’t mean to downplay the feelings you may be going through right now as you approach your first holiday after divorce. It is one of the most traumatic events you can go through in your adult life. Here are 21 quotes to remind yourself that you are loved, you are brilliant, and you will move through this season with your head up and deep breaths in your lungs.
“Your dream doesn’t have an expiration date. Take a deep breath and try again.” — KT Witten
“Letting go doesn’t mean that you don’t care about someone anymore. It’s just realizing that the only person you really have control over is yourself.” — Deborah Reber
“I’d rather regret the things I’ve done than regret the things I haven’t done.” — Lucille Ball
“Don’t spend time beating on a wall, hoping it will transform into a door.” — Coco Chanel 
“My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style.” — Maya Angelou
“When people divorce, it’s always such a tragedy. At the same time, if people stay together it can be even worse.” — Monica Bellucci
“It’s sad, something coming to an end. It cracks you open, in a way—cracks you open to feeling. When you try to avoid the pain, it creates greater pain.” — Jennifer Aniston
“Divorces are made in heaven.” — Oscar Wilde
“When we truly care for ourselves, it becomes possible to care about other people. The more alert and sensitive we are to our own needs, the more loving and generous we can be towards others.” — Eda LeShan
“Faith sees the invisible, believes the unbelievable, and receives the impossible.” — Corrie ten Boom
“There is no such thing as a “broken family.” Family is family, and is not determined by marriage certificates, divorce papers, and adoption documents. Families are made in the heart. The only time family becomes null is when those ties in the heart are cut. If you cut those ties, those people are not your family. If you make those ties, those people are your family. And if you hate those ties, those people will still be your family because whatever you hate will always be with you.” — C. Joybell C.
“It’s not the load that breaks you down, it’s the way you carry it.” — Lena Horne
“In college, I had a course in Latin, and one day the word ‘divorce’ came up. I always figured it came from some root that meant ‘divide.’ In truth, it comes from ‘divertere,’ which means ‘to divert.’ I believe that. All divorce does is divert you.” — Mitch Albom
“When your heart is broken you plant seeds in the cracks and wait for rain.” — Andrea Gibson
“To me, finding my faith, right now where I’m at, is putting all of my trust in something bigger than myself and living for something bigger than myself and trying to do that through service.” Noor Tagouri “Hold your head high, stick your chest out. You can make it. It gets dark sometimes, but morning comes. Keep hope alive.” — Jesse Jackson
“When two people decide to get a divorce, it isn’t a sign that they ‘don’t understand’ one another, but a sign that they have, at least, begun to.” — Helen Rowland
“If you spend your time hoping someone will suffer the consequences for what they did to your heart, then you’re allowing them to hurt you a second time in your mind.” — Shannon L. Adler
“You cannot start the next chapter of your life if you keep rereading the last one.” — Michael McMillian
“Forgiveness means giving up all hope for a better past.” — Lily Tomlin
“Sometimes you’re going to have to let one person go a thousand different times, a thousand different ways, and there’s nothing pathetic or abnormal about that. You are human.” ― Heidi Priebe
“Divorce, the end of an error.” — Unknown
Are there other quotes that have inspired you? Share them in the comments!
No matter what happens in the course of your divorce and what time of year it is, know that you are capable and you’ve got this. I’m sure every blog post full of inspirational divorce quotes says that, but I really mean it! The first Christmas after my divorce was a doozy – I could barely hold it together because I wasn’t prepared for everything that would surface in my life during the holidays.
There are unique worries, challenges, and feelings that happen in a divorce around the holidays, so I pulled together a few of my favorite resources I’ve shared throughout the years. You can find links to all holiday blog posts right here. Things like what to prepare for your first Christmas after divorce, how to talk to family members about it, and how to make sure your kids have an easy transition during this time.
