For the first part of my career I was in general practice, which I found uninspiring and taxing. I reached a point where I had to choose between the career and something else.
Photo by Heidi Fin on Unsplash
By questioning my purpose in life, my journey of self-development began.
I resonated with the qualities of the Warrior and the Peacemaker, and realised that these had to be incorporated into my work. As a warrior I protect the vulnerable – that is, children. As a peacemaker my task is to reduce animosity and set the table for peacemaking in the future. The best place I could fulfill these roles and feel that I was being of service was in the arena of family law.
I was caught in a habit of doing things a certain way, which needed to change. But this was difficult to achieve in a profession that has such deeply entrenched procedures.
Don’t be derailed by your emotions during the process. Have your professional support in place during the process. The divorce process can be an ugly battleground, or it can be a fair negotiation. It is possible to choose to grow through the process rather than allow it to be destructive to both of you and mostly to your children. It is not the divorce that impacts the children, it is the conflict.
Remember, if each of you is determined to fight for your rights, whose rights will take precedence? The fight will just cost you hundreds of thousands of rands if not millions.