Breakups are some of the worst experiences to go through. All the time spent getting to know that person may seem wasted. The memories you made and experiences you shared with that person fade into the back of your mind. Those memories and experiences were part of you though; maybe it’s not worth it to just let them go so easily. Maybe they shouldn’t be tarnished because of the break up. We live those experiences and learn from them. While the relationship didn’t go the way you thought, you gained valuable insight from it. Maybe that means being friends, or at least friendly, with your ex isn’t such a bad thing.
No matter what side of the break up you are on, time is always the most important thing. If a guy is really beat up about a girl, he is going to want time, maybe a lot of time. It can take either a few weeks, or even months until someone should even think about talking to their ex. Even if you see them all the time, before you reach out or talk to the guy, make sure you don’t have any feelings left. If you get mad at the thought of your ex with someone else, you probably shouldn’t talk just yet.
At some point, the guy will realize he’s fine. The only thing that really matters to most guys is space when getting over a girl. There’s no real way to tell when he hits that point. Since you can’t exactly tell when, you would just have to reach out at some point. Let him know that you want to talk to him and be friendly. Be patient though, if he’s not ready to talk to you, he just needs more time. A simple text will do the trick. If you see each other frequently, striking up a conversation is just as easy and helps you get through to him. It’s easy for the guy to ignore the text, but it’s harder for him to be rude in person.
Time is the most important factor to guys. After we stop thinking about a girl, that’s when we can be collected about our ex. With some light conversation and casual time together, an ex can go back to being a friend. The trick is to not let things fall into any routine of your past relationship.