Dating after you file for divorce can be a tricky proposition and a learning experience that leads you down many of the wrong roads. However, some of the folks at HuffPost Divorce have weighed in and shared some of the best things about dating after divorce. Encouragement ensues. Take comfort in these words even if you aren’t looking forward to accepting that first offer.
1. Two words: making out.
This is interesting because many people who’ve gone through the divorce forms don’t even realize they stopped making out a long time ago. There is something physically and emotionally stimulating about a makeout session with someone you’re attracted to, and once you engage, everything will feel new again in a way that hasn’t been there since you first met your spouse and started to fall for them.
2. The selection process is easier now. After a divorce, you really know what you DON’T want.
Unfortunately, many people fail to understand that signing divorce forms means their old idea of what was acceptable no longer applies. They end up in the same exact relationships with different people, who are all too familiar. With the right mindset though, you can take the things that you didn’t like about your old relationship — that didn’t WORK — and you can reverse course.
3. Everything is new. There is nothing quite like the feeling of liking someone and knowing they’re into you, too. That feeling of discovering one another is amazing. You know it will fade but you hope it’s replaced by something even more special.
Discovery is the best part of dating again after the divorce papers are final. It is what reminds us of being young and being someone’s everything. While it isn’t something that lasts forever, it is a reminder that you have value after the divorce is final.
4. It really is nice to have grown-ups-only time away from the kids.
This applies to single parents. If you are a divorced parent, then you know how lonely it can feel when the only interaction you get is mother-child or father-child. You start to lose your own identity as an individual. When you’re dating again, you get to stay in touch with the person you were before you had children and that can only be beneficial to you and your child as time moves along. Of course, the downside is you may have to go through a lot of losers to get to that point, but it’s worth the hunt for finding Mr. or Mrs. Right.
What do you think the best and worst parts of dating after divorce are?