Yes, it is okay to break up with someone you still love. There are a multitude of reasons that a relationship may no longer be working, even if you and your partner care deeply for each other. You might feel like best friends or even soulmates, but you can't stay in relationships that aren't right for you.
You give up your values, stop doing things you enjoy and just become a hollow shell of the person you used to be! Family members and friends no longer recognize you and, honestly, neither do you. If you're experiencing this, it may be time to consider ending the relationship.
How To Break Up With Someone You Still Love and Care About | Alanah Cole
35 related questions found
What are the signs when a relationship is over?
There's no emotional connection
If you're not sharing what's really on your mind, it might be a sign that you no longer want a deep connection. Similarly, if you've found that the usual fun banter between you is gone, or it's difficult to have engaging conversations, your bond could be getting weaker.
Even ifyou were the one who initiated the split, there are five stages ofgrief that you will go through. They are denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance, according to Mental-Health-Matters. These are the natural ways for your heart to heal.
Sometimes, life may seem difficult with your partner, and you would want to sever ties. If this is a prolonged feeling and you cannot operate in the relationship out of the constant urge to be out of the relationship and enjoy freedom, this is one of the signs to leave a relationship.
Red flags in a relationship include excessive jealousy and frequent lying. You should also be wary of a partner who frequently criticizes you or puts you down. Another major red flag is an unwillingness to compromise — relationships shouldn't be one-sided.
For example: "I know you'll be OK." Or: "I know we'll always care about each other." Or: "I'll always remember the good times we had." Or: "I'll always be glad I got to know you."
Sometimes, couples are unhappy because they feel bored in a relationship, or because both partners have lost the physical spark they used to have. At other times, there may be extreme jealousy present in the relationship, or perhaps a severe case of emotional manipulation.
One of the major signs you should not break up is if it's hard to picture your life without them. There will always be ups and downs in a long-term relationship, but you know it's worth it if you see them as your future. “Thoughts of a future without your partner [will] feel empty and bleak,” explains Winter.
"If someone can walk away from you, let them walk." "It's better to be single with a standard than losing yourself for approval." "Don't let someone who isn't worth your love make you forget how much you are worth." "Don't cling to a mistake just because you spent a long time making it."
Feel the Feelings. You will likely experience many conflicting emotions; ignoring or suppressing them will only make the grieving process harder and longer. ...
After you realize that bargaining didn't work, you go into the depression phase – one of the hardest stages of grief in a breakup. This is different from Clinical Depression because what you feel in this stage is a normal reaction to the loss of a relationship. You might feel sad or lost or just not yourself.
When looking at the timeline of breakups, many sites refer to a “study” that's actually a consumer poll a market research company conducted on behalf of Yelp. The poll's results suggest it takes an average of about 3.5 months to heal, while recovering after divorce might take closer to 1.5 years, if not longer.
Your new love doesn't feel contrite or admit wrongdoing—ever: That's a red flag. “If the new person you're seeing has a hard time showing you they're imperfect, or apologizing for even silly mistakes, this relationship probably will not last,” says Bregman.
Should you tell someone why you are breaking up with them?
Tell the truth — but don't be cruel
If you're ending a relationship, you owe it to the other person to explain why, says Rachel Sussman, a New York City psychotherapist and author of The Breakup Bible. “The people that I see who have the hardest time after a breakup, it's because they don't understand,” Sussman says.
