Finally found the man I thought I would marry, but the breakup came out of nowhere and I’m struggling to cope. What are the ways you’ve dealt with heartbreak in the past?
Ugh, heartache is literally painful. I’m sorry you are going through that.
For me, getting iver someone has been a multi-pronged approach.
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Accept that I’m going to feel grief for a while…at least a few months. That’s okay and normal. Don’t fight it, don’t get mad at it. Just notice it and ride it out. Your brain has to severe the neural networks that were dedicated to him, while rebuilding new ones. This is a process that takes a while.
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Start connecting with friends that are healthy. They can be a nice source of validation, connection, and support.
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Work on a new project to have a focus. This can help in those moments where I’m sitting around ruminating with nothing to do or no desire to do anything. Even if I’m ruminating while doing the project, at least I’ll something to show for it when it’s over.
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Start a new hobby to define myself apart from the relationship. I’m going to be a new person.
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When ready, start throwing out all of their stuff. I even get rid of gifts. If it reminds me of then when I look at it, it’s gone.
Things will get easier as you stop thinking about them slowly over the next dew weeks to months. Eventually, they become someone that you used to know with no real meaning other than the lessons you learned from that experience.
Old me: bottle of whisky, pint of ice cream, a lot like love/Fools rush in New me: bike/motorcycle ride, cuddly a bunny, hard cry
Self care, whatever that looks like for you.
It could be treating yourself to a new outfit, spending quality time with a good friend, or more traditional ideas of self care, like healthy meals, exercise, and meditation.
Looking through the stages of grief can be helpful too. Give yourself permission to mourn. And permission to pendulate and use healthy distractions if the feelings get intense.
These are the strategies that work best for me. I also have less healthy coping mechanisms and if that’s your goto, harm reduction can be helpful (weed is less destructive than alcohol for me, for example).
There’s a set of questions an author named Byron Katie wrote about for managing limiting beliefs. First you have to isolate the belief that’s causing you pain. Then you ask the following:
1 - Is this belief true?
2 - Can I absolutely know this belief is true?
If you are still saying yes to these you’re not ready for 3 and 4.
3 - How do you feel when you believe this? Be sure to go into this really well. I find the more you put into this step the better the results at the last question. So where in your body does the feeling live? What temperature is it? How intense is it out of 10? Is it sharp or dull? Is it dry or wet? Does it change is it constant? Maybe even what color is it? You want to really witness and give credence to this feeling here.
And finally
4 - Who would you be or what would you be doing if you didn’t have this belief?
I can guess what answers you’d give here but you know so I don’t want to muddy that for you.
Edit: formatting
Everybody deals differently with heartbreaks. But I think what’s most important is to take care of yourself and don’t let your mind rot in thoughts and sadness. Of course first few days are gonna be though, express your feelings by writing them down, or by songs, art etc but as I said don’t hold on to it for too long
