Detaching From Someone You Care About – Overcoming Lost Love
Before the tips, a quip:
“Let there be spaces in your togetherness,” said Khalil Gibran. “And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.”
That’s a wonderful suggestion for getting on with your life: take a step back and let time and space flow between you and your lost love. Below, I describe what it means to “let there be spaces in your togetherness.” For more help with heartbreak, read How to Heal a Broken Heart in 30 Days: A Day-by-Day Guide to Saying Good-bye and Getting On With Your Life
Detaching From Someone You Care About – Overcoming Lost Love
1. Focus on yourself – not your ex-boyfriend, ex-girlfriend, or partner. For others to love and respect you, you have to love and respect yourself. To love and respect yourself, you may need to make practical changes in your life. Maybe that means losing a few pounds, going back to school, or spending more time with people you respect. Maybe it means getting up early to exercise or finding out about student loans. To let go of an ex-boyfriend or ex-girlfriend, write down your goals and take specific action steps towards achieving them.
2. Give yourself – and your ex - space to heal and breathe. One of the most important things to do when you’re detaching from someone you care about is to take a step back — though your instinct might be to move closer! Instead of crowding your ex, find your self-identity. Figure out who you are apart from your love relationship, marriage, kids, and family members. Give yourself (and him) room to breathe by developing your own interests and life.
3. Look at your love relationship objectively. You may have been invested in this love relationship or marriage for years; now, you need to look at it objectively, with your mind and gut (not your heart). Is this the love relationship you wanted for yourself, before you met him? Would you want your daughter, sister, or best friend to be in this relationship? Did your ex willingly meet your needs and respect your wishes? Do you do the same for him or her? If you had to do it all over again, ask yourself if you’d choose the same person again as your partner. These questions may help you overcome lost love and get on with your life.
4. Decide if you want to stay in this love relationship. This tip is for couples who are still together, but wonder if they should break up — because sometimes you need to detach from someone you care about while you’re still in the marriage or love relationship. Before you can think about overcoming lost love, you need to decide if you should stay together — because many couples do stay in unhealthy relationships. So, can you accept your partner exactly the way he or she is right now and not complain? Or, are you both willing to do what it takes to work on your relationship (eg, marriage counseling, support groups, or reading books or taking communication classes together)? A healthy love relationship can’t happen when only one partner cares enough to try to rebuild it.
5. Focus on the fact that heartbreak and overcoming lost love is temporary. The initial pain of detaching from someone you care about is usually the worst part of it. I know how heartbreaking it is; it may feel like you’ll never love again, never trust again, never laugh again…but trust me, you will get over your lost love. It’ll take time, it’ll take support from your friends, patience, and maybe even 40 days and nights of wailing and gnashing your teeth – but you will be happy again!
If you have any thoughts or questions on detaching from someone you care about, please comment below…
And, if you really want to get back together with your ex, you might find The Magic of Making Up helpful.
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The Magic of Making Up
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