Getting a divorce is a stressful ordeal, whether you're divorcing a total nightmare or a decent person. Everyone, and I mean everyone, will give you legal advice, from your Aunt Edna to the random dude on the subway.

Most people mean well: your loved ones want to see you happy and taken care of, and strangers most likely don't want to see you make the same mistakes they made. Still, the only person that can really give you honest legal advice is a lawyer or mediator. But you can learn from others who have divorced and learned hard or small lessons in the process.

In this excellent article, Laura Lifshitz offers a few things she would have done differently if she could go through the divorce process again. Perhaps her words may end up helping you if you're taking the journey toward severing your marriage.

1. I would have moved faster

2. I would have paid for legal help rather than asking family

3. I wouldn't have worried about being nice all the time

4. I would have dropped fussing over the little things

5. I would have written everything on paper

6. I would have had both my ex and myself set more specific parameters from the start

7. I would have worried less about what my ex was doing

8. I would have said less about the divorce while at work

9. I would have told myself to not be so damn scared