The Weight of Divorce

 

The Weight of Divorce
tj-tbp ©2025 BTMT

Divorce leaves reminders that live both in the body and in the heart. The emotional weight finds its way onto the page when I write, giving me space to process and release what once felt too heavy to carry. The physical weight, however, has stayed with me. I still carry twenty extra pounds, a visible reminder of a season that changed everything.

There is another marker as well—something that once brought me pride, something people noticed and complimented. Today, it feels different, less like a badge of confidence and more like a remnant of a chapter I did not choose to extend.

These reminders, both emotional and physical, are challenging in their own ways. Emotional pain can be buried for a time, tucked away until it demands to be faced. Physical reminders do not allow such escape. They sit with us. They are seen by those who knew the “before” and recognize the “after.” They are undeniable.

The irony is that the physical is often the part most within our control. We can choose how we move, how we eat, how we care for our bodies. Yet knowing this does not always translate into action. Even now, I have not shed the pounds that came with my divorce.

Still, here is the shift in perspective: these reminders do not have to remain symbols of loss. They can become evidence of survival. They can become the fuel for transformation. The body carries scars and weight because it endured, and the heart carries stories because it loved. Both are proof of a life that has not given up.

The question is not whether the reminders exist, but what you will choose to do with them. You can let them anchor you in the past, or you can let them propel you into a stronger, more vibrant future.

Yes, I carry the weight of divorce. Yet I also carry the strength to rise above it. That is where true empowerment begins.

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