I recently heard from my ex that she has a new boyfriend. We dated for nearly four years before we broke up. She, thankfully, moved to a different city to begin her new life, and left me to restart mine. Or so I thought. There was too much attempting to fix a friendship that maybe shouldn’t have been salvaged at that stage, and now I’m here licking my own wounds. Again. I seem to always set myself up for this type of situation, [problem – I know], but it always seems worth it? What’s worse is I know the guy. Well, not really, but I know of him. They met while we were dating. Fan-fucking-tastic. And the crap thing is I always knew. You should always trust your instinct. Always always always.
So, who am i to be giving relationship advice? I mean, I may have let the last real thing slip from right under my nose when it was maybe there to be taken and fixed. But let’s be honest, it is so easy to judge other peoples relationships, and far far easier to give advice. Maybe it distracts us from our own chaotic life. In fact, it is likely to be just that.
But is getting advice from other people really the best idea? Someone I’ve never actually met told me to go to a club and simply ask a girl to have sex with me. In what world would that work?! And in what stellar galaxy would I find the confidence to even think about saying it? Everyone always thinks they know the situation better than you do, but no one except you really knows, as every situation is different. That really is true. The problem is, however, that if you’re looking for advice, and no one really knows, except you, how can you know if you’re looking for a how-to??? Thankfully, there are always the generic answers: “Time heals all wounds”, “If it was meant to be”, et cetera, et cetera, blah blah blah! But each situation really is different. This is why I try refrain from giving advice. So, I’ll tell people I don’t give advice. I’ll even go as far as to reply to a blog talking about how silly it is to give advice when really you don’t know, but the fact of the matter is that I love it. I know more than anyone else will ever know. My advice is solid. And right. Always. And yes, it really does make me feel better about my own problems and shortcomings. (No, that was not a pun. There was no hidden meaning there.)
Pressure with one person in a relationship will always cause friction when people get stressed, it’s life, but the other person in the relationship needs to realise it’s a hard time and they, in this case, should be as supportive as possible. Someone once told me that fighting and arguing in a relationship is healthy. It keeps the passion charged – which is so important, else it will just fizzle out. So, as long as the fights are not about the same issues, over and over, and you feel your head is about to break from being smashed against the brick wall, it’s healthy. Crux of the matter: Have the argument, then get over it. Find a way to always remedy it and get around it. One solution, to apologise to end the conflict, is a great idea – To let heads cool, and the resolution come about with a clear mind.
My point, i think, is that we all need someone to hear our words, and for someone to be broken enough to listen to our perfect words back to them.
Is that hypocritical? I swear, that wasn’t advice!
wow.
i had no idea people actually listened to the crap i spew onto my blog.
it’s kak that she has a new bf, and that it’s someone you knew. kak for sure.
in the frame of mind i’m in – i’d say get revenge.
fuck friendship (do you really need *another* friend anyway?) and do something that will hurt her. sleep with one of her friends. her mom. anyone.
Either that, or break contact completely. clean cut. and let her carry on with her life, and you carry on with yours.
time heals all wounds? no it doesn’t. it merely allows them to grow scabs and fester. stick a plaster over, and hope like hell it goes away.
and seriously. someone she met while dating you? that’s kak.
the important thing to remember is – if something’s not working for you, stop it. and that’s the advice i give, that i can’t seem to take myself.
so you’re right – it is easier to give advice, than it is to take it.
My ex and I broke up after more than three years of dating after she cheated on me. The breakup was very amicable and we still chat to this day. Even my current fiance takes an interest in her life and love interests because, well she’s a nice person.
Sometimes things work out and sometimes they don’t. In my case it was for the better that it didn’t because I meant my wonderful current partner – still that’s no reason to rub out your past.
Seriously. I don’t get these people who are unable to remain on friendly terms with their exes. (‘exes’? There has to be a better/correct spelling for this, right?)
Anyway, just my two cents’ worth! 🙂
I agree that it is MUCH easier to give advice. People can’t even take their very own (good) advice. Don’t get me started on the generic answers. I have been bombarded with the cliches and have almost gone postal because of them. I do find advice from others helpful though, but i tend to sift through all the advice that doesn’t fit the situation as *i* know it and apply what’s relevant.
I really dread the day my ex finds another women. I will be okay until that day and on that day, no advice in the world on how to deal with it will help!! Good luck with finding your peace!
This is exactly right. You will always have some form of hope in a relationship that you never wanted to end. And now this is something else just saying that it is over, that you are not together anymore, DEAL! We’ll see how it goes.
Not quite sure how to deal the relationship we have now. We fought to keep the friendship alive after all that time, so it would be silly to cut the ties now. I think I’ll just give it a while… I mean time heals all wounds right? *choke*….
I’m writing the below with limited time to edit, so apologies if its just thoughts spewed onto the page.
Of all my ex girlfriends, I think there is only one where I found that I couldn’t remain friends with. Not because it wasn’t an amicable breakup, it was just too hard at that point to remain friends for me. You’re probably asking why I regard that as amicable, but we agreed that this was best, but also that four years down the line we started talking again. And now, her and I can now talk to each other properly without hard feelings getting in the way.
Fast forward to today… I just recently broke off my six year long relationship. You talk about finding that one solution, but I was tired of being the only one apologising and compromising.
And regarding advice given by others. I’m always one that gives advice, maybe when not needed – probably more than I realise. Being on the receiving end of that now, and seeing how everyone is so full of advice, I can’t stand it. Every single person that hears the sordid tale has so much “advice” to give. I think I’ve been more frustrated with the advice sessions, than with what actually happened / is happening. So… within reason, please give your advice, but know that you’re not the only one giving advice… just enough to get a point across, no more please.
Nice post 🙂