With this being our final post of January 2014 (yes, it has come this soon), many of our readers may be experiencing the stigma of divorce, or are at least wondering how life will be after announcing that they are splitting from their current spouse.

Some may be met with surprise, where their friends and family may want to know if they tried everything to save the marriage. Others may believe that the decision was a long-time coming, and are prepared to help in any way possible. These possibilities persuaded us identify the most common misconceptions about divorce that divorcees may encounter.

Divorce doesn’t hurt the person who initiated it – Contrary to this belief, there is emotional pain felt by both parties in a divorce, regardless of who first filed paperwork. After all, part of the process is knowing that a marriage failed, which is hard for anyone to deal with.

Divorces only happen to bad people – Unfortunately, scores of “good” people end up dissolving their marriages. Divorce is not limited to people who cheat on their spouses, succumb to drug and alcohol problems, or have anger management issues.

Divorced people are doomed to be poor and single afterwards – Former divorcees commonly end up living long and fruitful lives after splitting with a spouse. Simply put, divorce is not the end of the world.

People who divorce are quitters – Those who decide to end bad marriages are not quitters. Rather, they care enough about themselves (and the people who love them) to make a change for the better.

Source: HuffingtonPost.com, “21 Ridiculous things people believe about divorce