Are you hanging on to something that doesn’t serve you anymore, just because you have invested heavily in it?
Is divorce an end or a new beginning?
Divorce is a conclusion, marking the end of a marriage after all efforts to maintain the relationship. Even with it being the ending point of something, it can also be seen as a new beginning for both parties. Regardless of how difficult the separation may be, both individuals now have an opportunity to progress and find a new path ahead.
Yes, I am part of the statistics of the Grey Divorce, or Silver Splitter, grey-haired divorce “trend”. The famous ones are Melinda Gates and Bill Gates. In their joint statement, they reiterated, “We no longer believe that we can grow as a couple”.
Melinda Gates and Bill Gates divorced after 27 years of marriage.
I read with interest an article on Time.com by Jamie Ducharme on 26th July 2018 “The Sunk Cost Fallacy is Ruining your life, Here’s How.” Christopher Olivola, an assistant professor of marketing at Carnegie Mellon’s Tepper School of Business “That effect becomes a fallacy if it’s pushing you to do things that are making you unhappy or worse off.”
Excerpt: Humans get caught in this psychological trap for several possible reasons, Olivola says. Sticking with the plan, even when it no longer serves you, could be an attempt to correct cognitive dissonance: the mental disconnect between paying for something and not getting the expected return on investment.
It could also be a knee-jerk reaction to regret. Or, Olivola says, it could be an attempt to convince others, and ourselves, that we’re not wasteful.
“All of these things are irrational, in the sense that you should realize the money is gone,” Olivola says. “But I do think people do these things because they want to convince themselves that they’ve managed to recapture the loss.”
So many people stay in a relationship that doesn’t serve them anymore because they had heavily invested in it and stayed because they do not want to “waste” but in the process deprive them of a more meaningful life.
It can be difficult to let go of things that aren’t serving us. However, it is important to recognize that doing so leads to a fuller, more rewarding life. Being courageous enough to let go can ultimately open up new opportunities and experiences that we wouldn’t have otherwise encountered.
Life is short and you are responsible for your own joy and fulfilment.
