Elephants can die from a broken heart. Thankfully, we are not elephants. These are the phases one experiences after a not-so-easy breakup. It may not always be easy, but with patience and perseverance, you can conquer heartbreak…until it strikes again.
1. Productivty
After the initial shock of finding yourself single again, you go to work. You clean your room, do your laundry, cook healthy food, and go to the gym. You distract yourself with unrealistic self-improvement goals. Beyonce music typically accompanies this stage.
2. Binge-Eating
One trio Chick-fil-A won’t hurt, right? And it’s just one plate of Twisted Taco Nachos? And trying every holiday drink at Starbucks was completely necessary? Girl, please. Once you find your room covered in cups of coffee and boxes of takeout, you’ll be wishing you stayed in Stage 1.
3. Denial
You are a-OK…or at least that’s what you tell yourself. You pull yourself together, not out of spite but out of necessity. You begin to nonchalantly tell the people in your life what’s up.. And fight the urge to send any late-night texts in times of weakness.
4. Girls-Night
So important. So needed. They might have to take away your phone after a couple drinks but after a while you lose track of why you were upset anyways. Tough love can be good love! There is nothing more therapeutic than dancing with your girl friends.
5. Acceptance
It’s over. Everyone else accepted it and now you have too. This is the deep-thinking stage. You know why the breakup occurred, you know how you got through it, and ideally left with a better idea of what kind of relationships you’d like to forge (and who to forge them with!) in the future.