"Make him eat his heart out."- That was my grandma's reply was the other day when I told her that I might have to start working with my ex-boyfriend. At first, I felt empowered by such a bold and powerful statement. After all, the best revenge against an ex is letting them see you live your best life. However, her comment got me thinking because whether or not I liked it, I was about to start working with the guy who crushed my heart and made me understand that the phrase "cry yourself to sleep" is something that actually happens. I was torn between taking her advice and pretending as if nothing had ever happened between the guy who I spent my entire summer pining over and me, but I knew that ignoring the past wouldn't get me very far. As the saying goes, "those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it," and I'd be damned if I tried to start fresh with Mr. Nice Guy.
The more that the reality of my situation sunk in, the more I realized that I would have to deal with the situation eventually. My cousin tried to convince me that this was a sign from the universe, that my ex and I could be soulmates if we just gave it another try, but I knew that wasn't true. As good as her intentions were, I wanted to respect the space that my ex needed when he broke up with me. I wanted to be the bigger person in our story, no matter how many pages we had left, and that's when it hit me- this is my story.
I had been so fixated on this small development in my life I failed to realize everything else that's been going on around me! I had been thinking about this situation almost every day since I found out that I would be working with him, and while I think I needed some time to think about it, I realized that I had spent almost all of my time dwelling on it. What kind of college student would I be if I let this little bump in the road stop me from enjoying my remaining years at Ohio University? Sure, working with my ex-boyfriend might be a bit awkward, but life is full of awkward moments- that's what makes it great! Plus, I was looking forward to this job, and no man was going to stop me from enjoying it. As much as I might want to make my ex eat his heart out, I now know that I can't spend all of my time and energy at work doing that. However, if that happens to be the result of him seeing me live my best life, then I certainly can't complain.
