I've wanted to write this article for a while. Knowing I wanted to express what moving on after a relationship was like for me, I also realized the timing had to be right. I didn't want to be the writer who could tell their reader exactly what to do to move past such a huge part of your life, and why it's so much better in the long run, when I didn't believe it myself.
My relationship ended months ago, and yet only now does it feel as though it's the right time to put into words how I felt.
My situation was the typical changing-when-you-go-to-college, with a few other bad recollections and sad nights woven in between. The memories I had with that person and the connection we shared were what I struggled to let go of. Every day, I reminded myself of why I love him and why there's still a chance we will end up together. Even after I'd told my friends and family I'd accepted we were not meant to be, inside, it still hurt to even contemplate such a thing.
Now, I don't want this to turn into a depressing and mopey article because that isn't the point. The point is that I was too emotionally involved and invested to even imagine a way out and to live my life again without it encircling that person, but I did it. I found a way that I can do both - change in college as well as grow as a person.
As much as I still and will always care about that person, I owed myself the satisfaction and ability to let go. With a relationship that seemed to have no light at the end of the tunnel and no way to truly be happy with them, the realization that it needed to end occurred.
It's like moving to a new place. You want to be back home, where you belong and where you're familiar and residing somewhere that is comfortable, but that won't necessarily help you. Through acceptance, time and strength can you figure out that where you are is exactly where you're meant to be.
Despite the fact that it's been so long since we ended things and I just now obtained the ability to be okay with it, it's okay, because now I am at a place in my life where I can look back and tell myself that not only did I get through it, but I also learned and grew from it. And I can tell this from the fact I'm not breaking down into tears while writing this.
Things are good now, I am happy and I can finally move on with my life the way I'm supposed to.
