Breakups are a unique experience for everyone, but almost everyone has likely gone through the various stages and actions listed in this informal guide as their relationship draws to a close. Can you identify any of these behaviors and phases in yourself?
Stage 1: Before The Breakup
Experience anxiety over your soon-to-be former partner's altered behavior. Sensing an impending breakup, you feel uncertain about how to address the situation.
Engage in frequent arguments. While this wasn't always the case, now it seems impossible to go a few hours without a disagreement.
Develop a tendency to gaze at others and question the viability of your relationship. Is it possible that it's time to go your separate ways? You find the new bartender attractive.
Contemplate the decision to end the relationship at the present moment. Even in the most turbulent of relationships, individuals frequently justify prolonging the relationship for a short period, whether the reasons are sound or not. Therefore, you may be postponing an inevitable outcome.
Formulate an exit strategy. Occasionally, ending a relationship necessitates meticulous planning, particularly in situations involving abuse or divorce.
Attempt to repair the relationship, but the efforts prove unsuccessful. Indeed, it may be time to end the relationship and prepare for any potential fallout.
Encounter a dealbreaker. He did do something that crosses the line?! Absolutely not!
Stage 2: The Day/Week Of The Breakup
If you're the one initiating the breakup, it's important to select the appropriate approach. Keep in mind that ghosting is never an appropriate solution unless your safety is at stake.
If you're the one being dumped, the news can come as a shock. At times, it catches us off guard. This is a fact.
Confront the "Exit Interview." If you're fortunate enough these days, the person who initiates the breakup will inform you when the relationship is ending. This discussion may take place over the phone or in person, but it's expected that there will be many tears shed.
Exchange belongings and vacate the premises. Is it time to return to your parents' home?
Publicize your newly single status. Updating Facebook has never been more agonizing. Following your announcement, you can anticipate receiving many hugs from individuals.
Stage 3: OK, You're Broken Up. It's Freakout Time
Enter into denial. "He'll return. They always come back."
Weep to your friends about his despicable behavior. Your friends are ready for this and have even brought Kleenex and ice cream to comfort you.
Indulge in a tub of ice cream, watch The Notebook, and endure a period of isolation. If you find yourself spending every night with your companions Ben and Jerry, it's a sign of a devastating breakup.
Become enraged and contemplate revenge against him. In most cases, this is an unwise decision. It may even result in you being viewed as the irrational ex. If you do choose to create a spectacle or plot revenge, ensure that it is lawful beforehand.
Rejoin the "She-Woman Man Haters Club." By now, you may have convinced yourself that all men are wicked and despise women. It's alright; everyone comprehends.
Attempt to hook up with other guys as a means of moving on from him. We're not here to criticize, as guys do the same thing.
Share cringeworthy updates on Facebook. During a breakup, passive-aggressive posts on Facebook are all too prevalent.
Stage 4: Post-Freakout Breakup Mode
Permit yourself to view him as the self-centered, insignificant jerk he truly is. In general, men do not deserve the amazing women they have abandoned. Even if he never returns, is it truly worth fretting over?
Recognize your shortcomings in the relationship. Perhaps you had suspicions that he was being unfaithful, but you waited until he left you for someone else to confront him. Maybe you were too dependent or too harsh with him. There could have been areas where you could have improved, and it is beneficial to learn from your mistakes, even if the only lesson is to end things sooner.
Reflect on the lessons you can learn from your last relationship. A difficult breakup can provide valuable insights into what you desire and don't desire in your future partner. It can also reveal who your true friends are and who you should distance yourself from.
Start a new chapter in your life without him. You're moving into a smaller but brand-new home, just for yourself. While you may occasionally miss him, you realize that life is better without him.
Express gratitude to your friends for being there for you during the difficult time of your breakup. It's common to feel overwhelmed and emotional during this period, but having friends who support and comfort you can make all the difference.
Redirect your attention to someone else – in a positive way. Rather than dwelling on your ex, you might find yourself drawn to a cute, geeky hipster chatting with the DJ at the bar. Who knows, maybe there's potential for something good there.
You realize that you have moved on from him. "What was it about him that I found appealing?" you wonder to yourself.
