It is so easy to have selective recall when it comes to our marriages after our divorces.  We are lonely, our married friends seem to disappear and we seem adrift in a  foreign land.  We start to think that perhaps our marriage wasn't so bad after all.  We think perhaps it was better being married than being alone. 

It's almost akin to a person losing their mate to death.  The mate wasn't exactly  the greatest guy on earth, indeed on many fronts he was downright lousy and much of their life together, the wife was miserable.  Nonetheless, her memory becomes highly selective and she talks about much she misses him and all the wonderful things about him.  She fails to remember what their life together was really like.

Guess what?  There are lots of women out there in marriages that are are lonely and unhappy.  They live with someone and that's about it.  They co-habitat. They have the burden of living nearly separate lives under the same roof.  Add to that the constant stress and tension of their not-so-great marriage and you will find someone who may have resembled you back then.

Think long and hard about how your marriage really was, the truth.  All too often, not only do we have selective recall of the good times, we also come to rationalize our marriage via our personal interpretations.  We forget or we are in denial about how bad things really were.  We minimize the fights, the stress, the pressure, the lack of communication, the loss of self-esteem, the tears and the loneliness. Our fear of the present seems to cause our brain to re-wire itself.

I know that it is hard, I've been there and I still go there.  I think in many cases that it is just the being married part that we miss, not our ex.  We miss our Saturday nights with friends, the shared carpooling and chores, the extended families and  the holidays as a family.  But if we are really honest with ourselves, we don't miss our ex per se.  I know this isn't true for everyone but it is true for many of us. 

It is really important to be totally honest with ourselves and ensure that our memories reveal all the facts.  We need to guard ourselves into deluding ourselves, of remembering something that just wasn't true.  Life is hard for everyone and life is great for everyone.  Being married does not necessarily spell happiness.  We know that better than anyone.