7 Things Holding You Back From Moving On

7 Things Holding You Back From Moving On

1. Social media.

If their face keeps popping onto your social media, it’s going to be hard for you to get over them. No matter how curious you are about what they’ve been doing without you, it’s better to keep them out of sight and out of mind. You don’t want a good day without them to be ruined because they happened to appear on your feed. Do yourself a favor and delete them from every form of social media. Or, if you’re not comfortable with saying goodbye forever, at least use the mute button.

2. Your phone.

You don’t have to get rid of the photographs you took with your partner — but you should get them off of your phone ASAP. Bury them in a file on your computer or put them on a flash drive you can shove in your closet. Just don’t keep them on your camera roll. If you do, then they’ll be way too easy for you to access while you’re trying to heal.

3. Your memories.

You don’t want to log onto social media, only to be faced with a smiling photo of you with your ex from last year. Luckily, you’re able to turn off memories. You can go to your account settings and make sure that you’re never given memories again.

4. Love songs.

Listening to songs that remind you of your ex can be helpful when you’re trying to heal. But it can also be destructive. It can keep you locked into your pain. Make sure you put together a special playlist that excludes all of the songs that make you think of this person. If you’re in a good mood, then put on that playlist. Don’t let random songs shuffle. Don’t let your good mood be ruined because the wrong song happened to play.

5. Your texts.

You need to delete your text thread with them. You need to start on a clean slate. If there are certain messages you want to be able to look back on and read in the future, then screenshot them and email them to yourself. But get them off of your phone. You don’t need to be rereading old messages late at night when you can’t sleep, wondering where it all went wrong. You need to let them go.

6. Your family and friends.

Your loved ones are bound to ask about your ex, especially when the breakup is fresh. However, you should be blunt with them. Let them know you’re not comfortable talking about them and would appreciate it if they avoided the topic in the future. That way, you won’t have to worry about them repeating the question every time you see each other.

7. Your own thoughts.

Maybe you’re having a hard time moving on because you feel like your ex was the only one for you, like no one else will ever love you, like you don’t deserve to be happy. But those are all lies. You’re going to find someone else someday. You’re going to be happy again. Thought Catalog Logo Mark

January Nelson is a writer, editor, and dreamer. She writes about astrology, games, love, relationships, and entertainment. January graduated with an English and Literature degree from Columbia University.