Heartbreak is one of the worst feelings in the entire world. It can be soul-crushing and leave you feeling completely hopeless. As painful as this time is, everyone has been there at one point or another. Rather than listen to a million people tell you “it gets better”, I’ve compiled a list of my tried and true tips that have gotten me and my besties through our share of heartbreak over the years.
- Refrain from telling everyone
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This is a lesson I’ve had to learn the hard way. As tempting as it may be to tell all of your friends about every single detail of your dating life, you may be better off in the long run keeping most of it to yourself – and maybe one or two close friends. It’ll save you a lot of sadness and embarrassment later when you have to recount to 20 people how it didn’t work out.
- Don’t listen to sad music or watch sad movies
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You may want to wallow in your sadness now, but the best thing to do is try and distract yourself. Rather than listen to “Teardrops On My Guitar” 10,000 times – been there – try listening to ACDC, the Rolling Stones, and Rush. It always makes me feel better when I try to get my mind off of my sadness and avoid listening to sad love songs.
- Know you’re not alone
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Find comfort in the fact that you’re not the only one who has felt this way or will feel this way again. Heartbreak sucks, but it’s part of life. You’ll have to go through a lot of failed relationships until you find the one. Everyone has been there, so know that it gets better – as cliché as that sounds, it’s the truth.
- Dress cute and ignore the person who hurt you
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Maybe this is just a me thing, but I choose to cope by spending extra time picking out outfits I love and doing my hair and makeup. Even if it’s only external, looking good on the outside makes me feel just a little bit better on the inside. Plus, you’ll feel way more confident rocking your favorite dress than you will in pajamas all day.
- Let yourself cry
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It’s natural to want to push away any feelings of sadness you have because they hurt. Sometimes, letting yourself break down and get it all out will make you feel way better than keeping it all bottled up inside will. Grab some tissues and let it out.
- Don’t let anyone invalidate your feelings
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Your feelings are your own and no one else can tell you how you should or shouldn’t feel. Every relationship is different so don’t try and compare your situation to others. No matter how long you two were together or if you were even officially together at all, you deserve to feel however you do without judgement.
- Put things in perspective
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As hard as this time may be, I can almost guarantee you’ve been through worse and made it out alive. It hurts like hell, but it is by no means the end of the world. Think of this as a testament to your strength and an experience to grow and come out even stronger.
- Dance it out
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When you’re up for it, a dance party to “The Middle” by Jimmy Eat World is a miracle worker.
It’s not going to be an overnight fix, but gradually you will find yourself healing and each day will get easier. In the wise words of Taylor Swift, “I forgot that you existed. And I thought that it would kill me, but it didn’t”. Hang in there.