Breaking up is one of the cruel, hard facts of life
Whether you are glad to see a relationship come to an end or it fills you with sadness, you can bet that the other person is going through some turmoil and strong emotions as well. While breaking up is nearly always unpleasant — rarely is a breakup totally amicable with both parties agreeing that this step is best — there are ways to make it less traumatizing for everyone involved.
Nix the Drama
It’s easy to fall into the trap of ending a relationship — which you felt was on its last legs anyway — during a dramatic fight. After all, tempers are high and all the drama is an epic reminder of why it isn’t working out anyway. Doing so, though, often does not feel final to the other person. They might wonder if there is some chance for reconciliation since it can seem like the incident at hand fueled the breakup rather than the fundamental issues within it. It’s better to plan for a quiet time when there is little else going on to initiate the breakup.
Don’t Drag it Out
On the other hand, you don’t want to drag out the inevitable either. If you know that there is no chance of the relationship being righted and flourishing, it’s best to go ahead and get the breaking up part of out of the way. If you find that you and your partner are in a constant state of strife, it can be difficult to isolate a more calm period to bring up the subject of ending the relationship, but you shouldn’t not delay the inevitable for a long period of time.
Choose Your Mode of Communication Carefully
In this day and age of mobile devices, it can be easy to break off a relationship by sending a simple text, email or even message them on social media. This method, though, is both callous and cowardly. If you have been in a relationship with someone for any period of time, you owe him or her a face-to-face meeting, if it can be arranged. While breaking up over the phone is not ideal, if your partner cannot meet with you in person — or is unwilling to do so — doing so is preferable to a breakup text or email. One exception to this is if you are in a relationship, such as a long-distance one, in which all communications between the two of you have been via email, text or social media. Even then, though, a phone call is preferable to the other options if a face-to-face meeting cannot be arranged.
Breaking up can take a great deal of courage, and how you handle yourself during the ending stages of a relationship speaks volumes about you. These tips can help you make an unpleasant task a little more bearable.
