Truth is....I'm Divorced

DIVORCED.
Strong Statement? Understatement.
What it means to me is that I am a survivor. I was put through a decade of abuse and came out on top.
Don't get me wrong, I was very good at hiding it, went through it with a smile on my face.
The "good times" were an expectation of what the future could be and not of what the present actually was. Its always easier to look forward to something, even if its the smallest thing, than to know what is your reality.
If someone, and I know many of you will think "I DID!", had told me that life could be this beautiful, happy, peaceful, (really, the list could go on...)and that I could be content with myself, focused, and I could just let go...my God, I would have never stayed. Truth is, the right person did not say that to me. The right person waited a decade to open their mouth. ME.
I do believe in time lines. I do believe that although I hinted to myself, quite frequently, the timing wasn't right until now.
I think I was actually voted most naive in high school. I really did not understand why at the time. Maybe I was naive to what was actually in the world around me, the people around me, the possibilities around me. It seems that it was in some way a prophecy for the last ten years of my life. It is amazing to me the things I didn't know were going on all around me. Lies, Deceit, Infidelity, Alienation......
I exhausted myself by trying to fix, overcome, atone for someone else's shortcomings. In doing so, I lost myself, my family, my friends. I lied to myself habitually, and others even more. I stayed for the last half for a daughter that wasn't mine but I would give my life for. I left, for children that were mine and for a life that we all deserved.
I am no longer living in the shadow of someone elses negativity and lies.
At last I can say I am happy. I don't look back, not for a second glance.
I AM FREE!