You know... it can feel like that. I had a job when I left AXH so I didn't have that to deal with.
But he was dating and I'd see pictures of him online in a tux with some skinny 20-something blonde at charity balls and I'd be sitting in a badly insulated apartment wondering which one of the kids was in most urgent need of winter shoes because one would have to wait till next month.
I think the PEACE was more tangible to me, maybe because the kids went from being in constant fistfights to quietly watching movies or drawing together. I think the kids helped.
I also wrote quotes from wise folks here on sticky notes and stuck them all over my fridge. Some of them were "It's not always going to feel like this. Just go about your business" and "Life will be beautiful again" and "the past is gone; I am free in this moment" and "right now: the house is safe. you are safe. the children are safe."
I'm one of those people who tends to worry. I want to flip to the end of the book to make sure it all ends well. It's a stressful way to live. And it's difficult to let go and let God.