Divorce is a word that is commonly heard. It wasn’t always this way. Years ago it was frowned upon to ever get divorced, but today most people probably know at least one friend with divorced parents.

I am usually that one friend. My parents divorced when I was eight. With my level of immaturity at the time, it was very hard to wrap my mind around all of this. I was in my own world like any other eight-year-old, but suddenly my life was coming to a tragic halt. What does this mean for me? Where am I going to live? These questions ran through my head as it became an awful time. Today I realize I was not alone.

Your parents don’t have to even be divorced to feel this way. They can be separated or not even married. Having problems at home with your parents is probably one of the most traumatic things a child has to deal with. However, I have learned a few things that might help you to push past what is going on.

Tip number one, do not blame yourself! Even though it might feel as though it is your fault it isn’t. I learned this a long time ago and if you don’t learn this early on it will eat at you away for years.

Tip number two, surround yourself with people that love you and will be there for you no matter what. Shannon Mennig 17’ has been through a rough divorce and she believes this tip works.

She said, “Even though it was hard I knew I could always rely on my friends to be there and that made me realize it would be all okay in the end.”

Having people in your corner to fight through one of the hardest times in your life is essential, so don’t isolate yourself. Most likely in the beginning dealing with the divorce will be hard, and you probably won’t want to let anyone in but you need to. Bottling everything up will not help and most likely make a lot of your problems worse.

Tip number three, if you enjoy music, use it to your benefit. Listen to songs you can relate to at the time. There are a lot of songs that talk about most of the problems in the world and this makes you realize that everyone goes through hard times in life but hard times don’t last forever.

This will not be the only battle you face in life; it could be hard but it will only be as hard as you make it. High school is tough as it is, but if you can play an active role in working through the hard times, it does get better.