You have probably heard that the best way to deal with a breakup is to move on. As you embark on a new chapter in your life, how can you leave the last one behind? While it’s true that time can heal old wounds, there are four action steps that you can take to move on after a long-term relationship ends.
Try New Places
It’s time to break old habits. Stop visiting your old date night restaurants or the parks you strolled through together. One day, you can reclaim those places but if you want to move on, then it’s time to look towards the future.
Set a goal to try at least three new places per week. Visit a new coffee shop or try a new restaurant. Bring a friend along to create new memories. The point of this activity is to break up your old routine and stay away from the places that will make you think about your former relationship.
Focus on Your Health
When you’re down, it’s easy to let health and self-care fall to the wayside. Everyone knows about the stereotypical junk food binge that happens at the end of a breakup. Don’t fall into a slump of unhealthy eating and sedentary habits. Bad habits can reduce your mood.
When you are active, your brain releases chemicals that reduce your perception of pain and can trigger a euphoric feeling. You might know this phenomenon as the runner’s high. Regular exercise can reduce stress, boost your self-esteem, and ward off anxious feelings.
In addition to maintaining an exercise routine, include mood-boosting foods into your diet. Your diet should include plenty of fruits, vegetables and healthy fats. While junk food may cause you to feel better momentarily, the feelings won’t last for long.
If you want to add more vitamins and nutrients to your diet, check out a Le-Vel Thrive review. Sometimes, supplements can help increase your health and mood through a combination of vitamins and nutrients you may lack in your regular diet.
Build Your Self-Esteem
After a breakup, you may feel down on yourself. Try not to give into self-critical thoughts. This may be the perfect time to focus on what makes you feel good about yourself. Not only can a healthy lifestyle boost your self-esteem, but there are other small ways that you can improve your self-esteem too.
Retrain your brain. Try to catch yourself in negative thoughts. Tell yourself that you are strong and worth more than what your ex offered you. You deserve to move on and to be happy. Sometimes, when you are feeling low, it is easy to forget these facts. Practice mindfulness and when you catch yourself being too self-critical, correct your thoughts.
Detox From Social Media
Since the rise of social media, studies have been done to examine the effects social media has on mental health. Those who limit their social media time have fewer symptoms of depression and anxiety. Even if you only passively engage in social media, it can damage your mental health.
Those who quietly lurk on Facebook or other social media platforms may experience envy and resentment. They might even fear that they are missing out.
Odds are, social media will remind you of your former relationship. To make matters worse, you may have well-intentioned friends who want to share gossip about your ex. This does not help you move forward. Take a mental health break from social media to see how it makes you feel.
After a breakup, it’s time for you to move on. Focus on yourself, your health, and your future.
It’s normal to grieve the end of a relationship but you don’t want it to control your life. Eventually, you have to pick up and look towards the future.
If you don’t dwell on the past, you’ll find it easier to move on and leave the bad breakup behind you.
Identity Magazine is all about guiding women to discover their powers of Self-Acceptance, Appreciation, and Personal Achievement.
We ask that every contributor and expert answer the Identity questions in keeping with our theme. Their answers can be random and in the moment or they can be aligned with the current article they have written. As a team, we hope to encourage and motivate each other, thus inspiring you to Get All A’s.
1. What have you accepted within your life, physically and/or mentally? Additionally, what are you still working on accepting? Now, we’re not talking about resignation, rather stepping into, embraced, and owned.
I have accepted that I will never find the perfect balance as a mom, and no matter how others perceive me as a working mom, both being a mom and a professional help me to progress as a woman.
2. Appreciation is everything. What have you learned to appreciate about yourself and/or within your life, physically and mentally? On the other hand OR in contrast, are there elements of who you are that you’re still working on appreciating?
I’m grateful for the resilience that my trials have instilled in me. As hard as my trials have been they have helped me empathize with others more and to become a better person.
3. Share with us one of your most rewarding achievements in life? Tell us not only what makes YOU most proud but also share the goals and dreams that you still have.
Becoming a mother and feeling the love of my children has been the most rewarding experience of my life. That love coupled with a desire to maintain their love and respect is one of my biggest motivators in life.
