Breakups are tough. I forgot how they felt until recently. All you want to do is sleep and cry, sometimes simultaneously. You feel completely broken. Your heart feels like it literally breaks. Your chest is tight. You feel like you are going to vomit at the thought of food, at the thought of your ex, and at the memories of your relationship. You dwell on the past and the future at the same time. Everything you thought you would have has now, somehow, become nothing. It takes every little bit of energy you have to stand up. When you shower, the water coming out of the showerhead is encouragement to cry and have it drowned out by the freshwater and the sound. When someone asks how you are as part of their greeting, it takes a lot for you to respond without spilling exactly how you feel. Instead, you lie and continue on your way, fighting back the tears. You live in a fog, trying to function, and trying to not break into sobs at work. Breakups are the worst.
If you can relate to what I have written, I am sorry. I would not wish these emotions and feelings on anyone. Together, we need to believe that there is another side and that one day the thought of our exes’ names will not cause a searing of the heart.
The freshness of my breakup has caused difficulty in seeing the positives quite yet, but I am finding myself falling on the words of others and relying on quotes that I find relatable. Here are 23 of those quotes:
1.
You are braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.
—Christopher Robin
2.
It’s amazing that the heart makes no noise when it cracks.
—Author Unknown
3.
Everyone wants to fall in love. But I think more people are in love with the theory of love. If you’re looking in from the outside, it looks so beautiful. On the inside, it’s scary because it can take over your life. It’s the strongest emotion but also the darkest. It can put you on a high for days, but it can wrap an anchor around your feet and drown you in less than a minute.
—Calia Read
4.
Pain changes people, it makes them trust less, overthink more, and shut people out.
—Author Unknown
5.
How cruel is life to those who are blessed with a good memory and a tender heart.
— Shakieb Orgunwall
6.
Never allow someone to be your priority while allowing yourself to be their option.
—Mark Twain
7.
What a shame that the girl who once believed in fairytales and magic had to be struck by reality with demons in her mind and the fear of never being loved.
—K.F.
8.
What was it like to lose him? It was like hearing every goodbye ever said to me—said all at once.
—Lang Leav
9.
Never put yourself in a situation where you are not sure of where you stand in a person’s life.
—Author Unknown
10.
Sometimes we aren’t meant to get over someone, and we go on living a little bit emptier.
—Leo Christopher
11.
Rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.
—J.K. Rowling
12.
The worst feeling is wanting to cry but having to hold it in in public.
—Author Unknown
13.
She wanted something else, something different, something more. Passion and romance, perhaps or maybe quiet conversations in candlelit rooms, or perhaps something as simple as not being second.
—Nicholas Sparks
14.
We don’t mean to hurt each other but we do. And perhaps no matter how right we are for each other, we’ll always be a little too wrong.
—Beau Taplin
15.
You were enough, maybe you were too much, maybe he prefers less and you deserve more.
—R.H. Sin
16.
You know, it’s been said that we just don’t recognize the significant moments in our lives while they’re happening, that we grow complacent with ideas or things or people, and we take them for granted, and it’s usually not until that thing is about to be taken away from you, that you realize how wrong you’ve been, that you realize how much you really need it, how much you love it.
—One Tree Hill
17.
I want to be happy, but something inside me screams that I do not deserve it.
—M.B.
18.
I’ve learned—that no matter how badly your heart is broken, the world doesn’t stop for your grief.
—Author Unknown
19.
One of the most courageous decisions you’ll ever make is to finally let go of what is hurting your heart and soul.
—Brigitte Nicole
20.
Between what is said and not meant, and what is meant and not said, most of love is lost.
—Khalil Gibran
21.
I hurt. I don’t even know where exactly I hurt—it’s just a dull dry ache of the soul.
—Author Unknown
22.
Be careful what you say. You can say something hurtful in ten seconds, but ten years later, the wounds are still there.
—Joel Osteen
23.
There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.
—Maya Angelou
