
Gray divorce is a phenomenon that has picked up steam in the last several years as Baby Boomers are living longer than previous generations and not going gently into the good night, so to speak. Experts believe that the divorce rate for this group has skyrocketed because of the good health and their desire to live life to the fullest.
But isn’t divorce hard? How can it be anything but bad on the health of a Boomer?
To answer the first question, yes, divorce can be very hard, but a bad marriage can be just as burdensome if not more so. Boomers are starting to ask the question, “What if?” more and more as they look at their 20-, 30-, and 40-yearlong marriages and realize they’re missing a key ingredient to their own happiness. Rather than stay in the rut of something that isn’t working, they are daring to dream big about what life could be like free and clear of marriages that aren’t working. This motivation can actually be for the best because it helps them do a few things.
1. It helps them to recommit to their own health and fitness. Most of the time individuals who get a divorce feel a need to work on themselves, and they end up cutting weight, exercising more, and making healthier lifestyle choices.
2. It gives them a chance to reconnect with their youthfulness. A relationship that drags one down can age a person faster than anything else in the world. By shedding that burden, the person who decides to file, and yes, even the person who must honor their spouse’s decision and “learn to live with it” can eventually bolster their youthfulness by rediscovering their individuality.
While gray divorce isn’t always a good idea, and it can go south in a hurry if it isn’t properly thought through, the reason you see more of it nowadays is because more people are striving for improvement. That goal and the journey towards it may not always produce the best results, but it can leave one feeling rejuvenated in every sense of the word.