Even if you didn’t love the relationship, splitting up with someone you’ve spent any significant amount of time around can be painful, twisted and confusing.
Many people have had the ultimate heartbreak experience i.e being dumped out of the blue by someone you are head over heels in love with. And when that happens, what are you to do?
An ice cream and crying and TV marathon will only get you through a handful of days. If you really want to grow, heal and move forward after a bad breakup, here’s where to begin.
Accept the empty feeling
That moment when you realize you’ve been dumped by the love of your life feels like death. The key is to allow yourself to embrace the grief if you ever want to move past it.
Cut off all contact for real
In this case, absence does not make the heart grow fonder. Absence is exactly what you need to cool off, process your feelings and change your perspective at the end of a relationship. No texts, emails or social media messages because you need time and distance to get emotional clarity. When you just break up with someone, your emotions are all over the place, you will likely miss them desperately and overlook all the reasons why the breakup happened in the first place just to have them there with you again.
Challenge your negative thoughts
Don’t buy into the thoughts that emerge, slowly but steadily reengage the world (i.e., reach out to social supports, make plans that get you out of the house, exercise and eat well, return to healthy sleeping habits, take risks again when it comes to dating.
Be honest with yourself
The only effective way to challenge your thoughts is with brutal honesty. To process the breakup more quickly, be brutally honest about why it occurred. Just because you love someone doesn’t mean you’re compatible or that you have a future together. Chances are, this breakup happened for a good reason, and if it didn’t happen now, it would have happened down the line.”
Get back out there
No, you don’t have to sign up for a dating website with a quivering chin and tear tracks still fresh on your face, but you do have to make an effort to spend time with people you care about. This step is critically important to bring back a sense of normalcy to your life and to remind you of all the people you have in your corner.