Nothing is harder than moving on from a relationship that you thought would last forever. Detaching yourself from someone who meant the world to you is anything but easy. It truly is surprising how losing someone can have such strong emotional, physical and psychological effects on someone. However, as hard as it may be, sometimes it is important to put an end to a relationship- whether it is toxic or just not benefiting you positively anymore- letting go is the only way to move forward. Whether the ending was on your terms or totally out of the blue, it hurts just the same. Here are 4 ways that might make this awful process a little more bearable:
- Cry!
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It is completely normal to cry after the end of a relationship; it is definitely an obligatory step of moving on. Bottling up your emotions will forever keep their memory right by you. You need to release the pain from your body and sometimes crying is the best way to acknowledge and accept the pain. Unfortunately, there is no way to get around it. The sooner you accept the pain after the end of a relationship, the sooner you can let it go.
- Remove your partner from your social media.
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This is probably one of the hardest to do. Social media is one of the most popular ways to keep up with others and update others about your life, so blocking the person on social media really means fully removing them from your life. Personally, I failed at this part and could not get myself to block someone at the end of our relationship. I really suffered for it. Constantly checking their social media to see if anything has changed in their life places you in a position that does not allow growth. Additionally, I know that sometimes you want to continue following someone to post a facade of happiness in the small instance that they will actually see it and that is so, so toxic to both parties. Remove that person’s presence on your social media! Just consider the level of pain you inflict on yourself by continuously looking at their photos. It is not worth it; you are just adding fuel to the flames.
- Take time to do things that make you feel good.
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When you are in a relationship, you often forget about yourself or make sacrifices to accommodate the other person. Therefore, with the other person gone, you can finally focus on yourself and really evaluate who you are and what you want. Do something just for you: get your nails done, window shop, visit or call a loved one, do anything you want. This will not only help you distract yourself, but you are also creating new, fun memories.
- Do not dwell on the past, focus on the future.
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Sometimes when we look back at the past, especially when we are hurting, we tend to focus on the good and blur out the bad, making it harder to move on. If you continue to look back, you begin to romanticize the relationship, no matter how toxic it was, and then you begin to question why the relationship ended in the first place. Do not do that! Rather than replaying the past, dream about your future. Look forward instead of back; whether that means thinking about tomorrow or next year, set goals and dreams and work for them.
Here is the good news: the pain from ending a relationship will not last forever, and while there is no timeline for how long it will take you to move on, you can do it and you will come out stronger at the end of the process. Every ending truly does lead to a beautiful new beginning. Just wait and see!