How to Cope with a Break Up

1. Cry as much as you want to and need to. Don’t try to repress or to bury the feelings.

2. Listen to breakup music as research shows it is therapeutic and helps you to recover. Also, it lowers your heart rate, reduces pain and helps to relieve any feelings of stress.

3. Allow yourself to feel completely numb for a while. It’s going to happen – so go with the flow.  Also, don’t be afraid to be real with your friends and tell them “I feel empty and dead inside”. Know in time that will change; it’s a temporary thing. 

4. Talk about it with your friends – they will help to bolster you. You need all the people and support you can muster. Also, it’s likely that the break up will dominate your thinking so keep on talking till you start to feel you’re freer.

5. Set a limit for your grief. That doesn’t mean you have to feel better by then – but eventually you’ll want to think about your future life again. You have your whole life to live so don’t get stuck in the pain.

6. Review the relationship and why it ended. Were the reasons cited by your partner really fair? Was he or she just blaming you, or running away? Were you truly happy? Was it really a good match?

7. If you think it’s worth it, then try and reconcile. But only do that once as it usually doesn’t work … and you’re simply dragging out the disappointment and the pain.

8. Stop sitting and waiting for the phone to ring. Try and fill your life with other people and new things.

9. Don’t stalk your ex on tumblr or facebook. Block them if you need to … but get them out your mind. 

10. Reminisce about the bad times – and be glad that they are gone. It’s time to build a future that’s much better than that.

11. Go outside and get some exercise. Research clearly indicates that exercise can change how you feel, and help you put life in perspective. It’s worth the extra effort as you’ll reap the benefits.

12. Be nice to yourself – you need to give yourself a break. Just because some other person has dropped you from their life, it doesn’t mean you’re worthless or you’ll never find true love. Appreciate your strengths, and really love who you are, and think about the fun times you have had with others friends.  You deserve to be happy and loved for who you are.