The first few months were really hard, but here are a few things I did to help myself get out of the dark hole I was in. They might not all work for you but they are worth a try.
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Cry. Let it all out until you feel like you cannot cry any more. You will feel a lot better after you let your sadness flow freely. Losing a love is like experiencing a death of a loved one, you have to give yourself some time to grieve in order to be able to begin to heal.
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Reach out to your close friends and family members. Being able to have someone to talk to will make you feel much better. You do not have to go through this alone, and you will feel a lot better if you open up your heart to your loved ones as this will give you a chance to bond with them. This will also take some weight off your shoulders. I personally bonded with my parents
; they were there for me whenever I needed to cry or to talk to someone. Try not to spend too much time alone; those who love you will be happy to be there for you.
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Keep yourself busy. Even if you do not feel like doing anything, you have to force yourself to keep doing the things that you once enjoyed. Life goes on with or without your ex, and you need to keep moving forward. Find a hobby, spend time with friends and family, get out of the routine, explore different things, visit new places, travel, go to church, renew your spirituality... I would try to always go out whenever my friends would invite me anywhere, even if I had no energy to even get up from the couch. Slowly I started to feel better and to enjoy my time with friends, I even started making new friends and finding new hobbies.
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Make a list of the things that need to get done. This was the only way I would do something other than lay down on the couch and cry all day. Before going to bed, I would make a list of all the things that I wanted to accomplish the following day and all the things that needed to get done. Then, I would try to stick to my schedule no matter how bad I felt.
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Read. Books helped me a lot with my self-esteem and to realize that I had everything I needed to keep moving forward. There are a lot of good self-help books out there. Among the books that showed me the positive side of a break-up and how to deal with it are The Journey From Abandonment to Healing, The Feeling Good Handbook, and Black Swan - The 12 Lessons of Abandonment Recovery. Reading not only gives you a different perspective on things, it also keeps your mind busy.
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Write. My first thought when I started my journal was that I wanted to write down everything that I was going through so that I would never forget what my ex did to me. I wanted to have everything in writing so that I could go back to it and remind myself of all the bad things to not put myself in that spot ever again. Sometimes I didn't have anyone to talk to or I would feel like people were already tired of my story, so I would just write down my thoughts and feelings instead. Sometimes this would even make me feel better than talking to someone. I also used my journal to write letters to my ex or just to kind of talk to myself. Writing helped me heal and now I am glad that I started the journal because everything I wrote is now helping me write this blog.
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Pamper yourself. Take a bubble bath, go on a bike ride, go to a spa, go shopping, play video games, have a glass of wine while you watch a movie that you enjoy... Do whatever makes you feel better and relaxed.
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Pray and try to find inner peace. I found that talking to God made me feel better. I began praying every night and talking to God throughout the day. I would thank him every morning for allowing me to wake up, and every night for giving me the opportunity to live another day - even if it was a bad day. I would talk to God on my way to work, and throughout the day I would ask him for strength. I also began going to church more often and now I enjoy having a closer relationship with God. If you are not religious, try to practice meditation as it will have the same effect.
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Stay positive. This is really hard to do, especially the first few weeks. You feel like your world is over, like you will die without your ex, like you have nothing to live for. However, think about all the positives in your life, count your blessings, look around and enjoy your surroundings. Be thankful for being alive, healthy, for your family and friends, for having a place to live, a job, food, and people who love you. Time is your best friend and things will get better, you just have to be patient and try your hardest to get over the bad feelings. If you keep a negative attitude and do not try to think positive, it will be harder for you to move on.
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Live one day at a time. Stop thinking about the past and do not think about the future, focus on the present. The past is in the past and cannot be changed. There is absolutely nothing you can do to go back and do things differently, all you have is the present. Work on yourself, learn from your mistakes, and keep moving forward. Take it one step at a time; enjoy every minute, every hour, every day, and remember to always stay positive.
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Put yourself above anyone else. Before, my ex was my priority but slowly I realized that I needed to care for and love myself above anyone else. I began putting my ex and others in second place, I would not reply to my ex's texts or emails right away, even if I thought that she needed me or that she would feel ignored. She didn't care about me when she left so why would I care about what she felt or thought? If I did not feel okay to see her or to talk to her, I would not. If I didn't take good care of myself and of my heart, no one else would.
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Take good care of yourself. It is hard to eat and care for yourself when your heart is aching, but being healthy will make you feel better. I lost about 10 lbs in two weeks, but then I realized that I was only harming myself by not eating (even though I was not doing it on purpose). Those days when I would not get hungry and food would gross me out, I would at least try to eat fruits or drink milkshakes. I started taking vitamins and drinking Ensure to at least have something in my stomach. Your appetite will return with time. Also, try to exercise every day as this will keep you in shape, give you energy, increase your self-esteem, and keep you healthy.
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Get yourself out there! Meet new people, join groups, get a gym membership, join a dating site just to make new friends, go back to school, go to church. Try not to stay home depressed. I decided to join a dating site just to meet people but I made it clear that I was only interested in friendship. I don't believe it is a good idea to start dating someone right after a breakup. You have to heal first in order to be able to start a new relationship, or else you will end up hurting yourself and the other person. Church also gave me a second family and lots of new friends.
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Try to cut all communication with your ex or keep it to a minimum.
I was unable to stop texting and emailing my ex completely, especially
because she would be the one to contact me all the time. When we were
together we would talk all day on gmail, text throughout the day, and be
together all day and night after work; so it was just really hard to
all of a sudden cut all communication. But I did do it at my own pace.
I would write letters to her just to feel like I was telling her whatever I wanted to tell her, but I would not send them. I also began texting her less and less until it all became easier.
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Stay away from drugs and alcohol. Getting drunk and using drugs might make you forget and feel good for a little while but after the effect wears off, you will end up feeling worse than you did before. You have to live a healthy lifestyle in order to feel better. When I was really depressed I tried taking sleeping pills with beer, I was not trying to kill myself but I wanted to sleep for a long time. I realized it was a stupid thing to do and after I began feeling the effects of the alcohol and sleeping pills, I made myself vomit and felt horrible for days. Not worth it.
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Do not do anything stupid!! Some days will feel like you have nothing to live for, like all you want to do is die. NO ONE is worth your life!! think about all your dreams and goals and everything you want to achieve. Your ex is not your whole world, there is so much around you! The thought of killing myself has crossed my mind many times, but I know it would be a selfish thing to do to my loved ones. There are many good things to live for and if you do not agree with me now, you will with time.
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Change things up a bit. Change your look, get a new haircut, buy new clothes, rearrange your apartment, and try to get out of the routine that you had with your ex.
- Other things that might help. Go to counseling, join support groups, or visit online forums where you can find other people that are going through the same thing. I decided to join the forums on psychcentral.com, and I found it to be very helpful as I found others that felt the same way I did, and was able to get advice from people that had already gone through something similar. Practicing EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) Tapping may also help. You may find instructional videos on how to practice this on youtube.com.
Try not to listen to songs that remind you of your ex and stay away from places that you would visit together, at least until you feel ready. It is a good idea to get rid of everything that reminds you of your ex. If you do not want to throw them away or donate them, at least put them in a box where you can't see them. Delete your ex from Facebook, Twitter, and even from your phone if you can, and don't cheat yourself by going to their profiles. Once you start having less contact with your ex, things will get easier.