Don’t give up on your marriage yet (do this instead)

How many times in the past year have you felt like giving up on your marriage and on your family? 

 

If you just thought…“Ummm more than I care to admit, Kristin” – 

 

You’re not alone. 

 

It makes so much sense that you’ve felt like giving up – 

 

Especially when you feel like nothing is going to change, and you’re going to either be stuck in a family you don’t enjoy or rip your heart to shreds by ending your marriage. 

 

But – what if there’s a 3rd option here that hasn’t been explored? 

 

What if it’s possible to stay married, and truly enjoy your life and your stepkids? 

 

This is what happened for my client, Jude. 

 

When we first met, here’s what was going on for her, in her own words: 

 

“I felt like I had found this wonderful person who I loved but, I was also feeling like I had very little control over what was happening in our relationship, and my role in his family. I was feeling exhausted and overwhelmed and frustrated on a weekly basis. I had this major sense of guilt because I felt like I was invading someone else’s family. I spent a lot of time people-pleasing, and not really paying attention to what I wanted.”  

 

But instead of helping her end her relationship….

 

I taught her how to process all of her negative emotions, and release them for good so she no longer felt so frustrated, overwhelmed, and exhausted all the time. 

 

I showed her how to stop taking her stepkids’ behavior so personally, and feel confident and secure in her own skin. 

 

(So that even when her stepkids told her they didn’t want her to come on a family vacation – she was able to handle it with grace.) 

 

I helped her ditch the people-pleasing and show up as her authentic self no matter what her stepkids thought about her. 

 

And here’s what happened for her after she applied these teachings to her life, in her own words: 

 

“Now, I feel like I always have a choice in how I respond to any given situation…I am able to enjoy my relationship so much more and not let any of the dynamics with his kids affect me…

 

Overall I feel calmer and more at ease with everything and emotionally, I have far more energy to think about and experience my life. I’m doing things that I love again – like restoring furniture! I’ve been able to put up boundaries around me, and my time and what I want, and no longer feel like I have to always do what my partner and his kids want. I feel so much more centered and balanced.”

 

So just consider – you could be Jude.  

 

Regardless of how difficult your stepkids are, or how much you’re fighting with your partner right now-  

 

A few simple tweaks are all it takes to start enjoying a more calm, balanced, and joyful home life.