24/09/2026
I thought my marriage had failed when I got divorced.
So when I heard Gary Lineker talking to Davina McCall about his two divorces recently, something he said really resonated with me.
“The way I look at it is that I had two successful marriages.”
I wouldn’t have seen it that way when I was first getting divorced.
Back then, the fact my marriage had ended felt like evidence that I’d failed at it.
Now I see it very differently.
A marriage can contain years of love, happiness, children, shared experiences, difficult times you’ve got through together and a life you’ve built with another person.
And it can still end.
I don’t think the ending gets to erase everything that came before it or turn all of those years into a mistake.
Your marriage can have been successful and still have ended.
And if you’re going through a divorce and struggling with the feeling that you’ve failed, perhaps it’s worth asking yourself what you’re using to define a successful marriage.