Anyone who has just been dealt the blow of a separation or a divorce will find themselves sitting there wondering "now what?" No matter why a relationship ends there are going to be a lot of issues to deal with. The emotional issues that you must work though will seem like a never-ending pile of shock and depression.

It does not have to last, know that going into it. No matter how bad you feel now, or in the future, it will go away with time. Think about it. The build up from meeting your ex to your marriage (or steady relationship for those who didn't marry) did not happen overnight. It built, slowly raised to what it was when you got serious. In the same vein of thought, your marriage did not fall apart all at once either. It eroded over time (sometimes only for one party) until you found yourself where you are today. Even a bad marriage that you're glad to get out of will bring grief, loss, and a flurry of unexpected emotions.

Your recovery from the shock, hurt, and disappointment of a failed relationship will get better, but it will also get worse. It'll be a roller coaster ride of emotions for a while. Luckily, the bad days will get fewer and fewer an the good days will be more and more the norm as time goes on.

Guilt and blame is one of the biggest feelings that you have to deal with when a relationship ends. Typically, when the break up is the choice of one person who, for whatever reason, decides that the marriage is over the other person feels the guilt for the break up.

Yes, it does usually take two people to end a relationship but the person who ultimately wants out will often exaggerate the problems, the 'faults' of the other person to make themselves feel right in their decision. By doing this, the already devastated other person will feel even more responsible for what has happened. They will feel if they had been better, if they're done more things right, if they'd just met their needs all would be fine. It leaves you in a crushed state constantly wondering what it is you could have done to make it better.

Let me tell you, there's nothing you could have done. When one person decides they want out it's not possible for another person to force them to stay no matter how much you love them.

What are the Stages of Grief? Read about grief and its effects on separation here.