Life can be cruel sometimes. You meet the most wonderful man in the world and he’s perfect for you, but unfortunately, for some reason or another, you can’t be together.  Maybe he’s in your life to be a hint that something even better is coming along, an affirmation that you finally know what you want in a guy, or maybe he’s just not as great as you think he is. Who knows? If he can’t be yours, you’ll have to learn to let him go. We’ve all been there! Here’s how to do it.
- Truly accept that it isn’t happening. If it’s a no, it’s best to assume it’s a no. Don’t hold out hope or daydream that he’ll come around, because even if he did, the hoping wouldn’t have been helping (and chances are, he won’t anyway). Better to move on.
- Try to be happy for his current relationship. Ugh, I know. He’s with a girl who you find to be half as attractive and charming as you… but he is with her, not you. Try to be happy for him, because he seems pretty happy.
- Learn from your mistakes. If you constantly find yourself going for men who are unavailable, take some time to self-reflect and figure out why that’s the case. Learn from the experience, and don’t do it again in future – or at least try and stop yourself when you do.
- Take his unavailability as inspiration. Technically, if he can find true love with that other girl, then you can find true love with someone else as well, right?
- Realize he’s not as perfect as you think. Just like the last guy you lusted over until you found out you had nothing in common, this guy is an imperfect human as well.
- Don’t take it personally. Stewing over the injustice of it all is about as bad as fantasizing that it’s all going to come together eventually. Know that it doesn’t say anything terrible about you, it just is how it is.
- Go out with someone else. Yeah, sometimes this feels even worse… at first. But it’ll be necessary at some point, so you might as well give it a go when you’re at all ready.
- Don’t be a bitch to his girlfriend. Whether she knows about your crush your not, it’s really not her problem that you’re pining away. Don’t be a mean girl.
- Recognize how inappropriate acting on your feelings would be. If he’s taken or he’s your boss, or anything else off limits, don’t get caught up in the excitement of the game possibilities to be played. You know what’s right and what isn’t, so don’t go there.
- Talk about it… but then stop talking about it. Once it’s done, it’s done – there’s no need to reanalyze the situation at every happy hour for the rest of the year.
- Flirt with other guys. Chances are, you’ve been saving your attention for one guy when you should be spreading around your playfulness a bit more evenly. You never know who you might meet.
- Don’t look at his social media. Whether that means unfriending him or just practicing a lot of restraint, don’t drive yourself nuts looking at his cute photos and trying to figure out where he’s going to be hanging out this weekend.
- Don’t compare other guys to him. He’s not Prince Charming, which you know for sure because he didn’t choose you. Why would you want other men to measure up to a dude who didn’t even choose you?
