Heartbreak sucks, plain and simple. Losing the one person you thought was your forever feels like the end of the world. You’ll wonder how you can ever be happy again without them, but finding happiness is less complicated than you think, and here’s how to do it:
- Fall in love. Not with someone new, but with something new. This is the perfect time to find a hobby you can enjoy. Whether it’s painting, music, or even knitting, finding something else that brings you happiness will help. The more time you put into it, the less time you’ll spend focusing on the person you’ve lost.
- Focus on you. You’ve spent a lot of time worrying about him — now it’s time to worry about yourself. Take all that energy you put into your relationship and redirect it into yourself. Treat yourself! Give yourself the same things you would if you were taking care of your best friend in this situation.
- Date yourself. Who said date nights can’t still be a thing? Wine and dine yourself. Grab ice cream by yourself. Watch the newest rom-com at the theatre by yourself. Honestly, dinner and a movie for one is much cheaper than it is for two anyway!
- Reinvent yourself. Who are you now? It’s your chance to decide! You’re totally free to become whatever and whoever you want to be now that you aren’t tied down to another person. Want to cut six inches off your hair and dye it blue? Do it! Want to sell your old clothes and create a new wardrobe? Hell yeah! Want to take a pottery class and hone a new skill? Get creative!
- Experience new things. You’re no longer being held back by someone else and their preferences or schedule. Go try that new sushi place down the street — just because he said it sounds gross doesn’t mean you won’t like it. If you’ve always wanted to sky dive, go meet with an instructor and schedule a time to mark that off your bucket list. If a road trip sounds like a fun way to spend a couple weeks of vacation time, save up some cash and hit the road.
- Explore what’s out there. Travel can do wonders for a broken heart. Now that you’ve got no strings attached, you can fly to Europe or Asia or even Australia and see all of the wonders of the world first-hand. You’ll meet new people and experience new cultures, and it’ll help you see that there are so many other ways to find happiness than with one person.
- Further your education. Nothing makes you feel like you’re moving forward more than learning something new. Whether that means you go back to school to pursue a new degree, learning another language, or self-educating through books at the library — growth of the mind leads to growth of the soul.
- Spend time with other people who love you. Nothing fills a human void quite like another human. That’s not to say you should jump into a new relationship — rebounds aren’t exactly ideal when you’ve not become completely self-sufficient yet — but you should spend time with family. They might be a little dysfunctional or overbearing at times, but they will remind you that the best is still yet to come – after all, your parents certainly lost one or two loves before finding each other.
- Have as many girls’ nights as necessary. Girlfriends are great at healing broken hearts, and after you’ve cried your last tear and eaten the last carton of ice cream, you’ll laugh about how crazy you were to think you would never be happy without that person in your life. They show you that it’s possible to laugh again and that you can still have fun.
- Remember that all feelings are temporary. Happiness will come and go, but so will the heartache. You won’t be sad forever, and there will always be better days ahead. When you feel like you won’t ever be happy again, remind yourself of the last time you were at an all time low – you made it through 100% of your worst days so far, and you’ll make it through the next one too. You’ll find happiness again, it just takes time.
