Sunday, 19 August 2018

Lessons learnt, love-wise, life-wise


A month and a day after the break-up… I don’t regret and though there moments when I feel lonely, hopes for bright future lift me up, while the dead-end relationship kept bringing me down. As the dust has settled and that stage is over, time to share some (blindingly obvious) notions.

Early weeks of the relationship ought to be ideal, butterflies should fly around your stomach, you should be heads over heels in love. If doubts creep in so early, it does not bode well. In other words failure of such relationship is just a matter of time and the sooner it comes about, the better for both parties involved.

The general tenet in any relationship is to accept your partner they way they are, with all their shortcomings. Love is unconditional, so you cannot state: “Yes, but…” and list conditions under which you will embrace your second half. It is a “shape up or ship out” situation. A piece of advice from me: try to balance good and bad traits of your partner; if the former outweigh the latter, go for it.

The feeling of comfort is absolutely essential in the relationship. You must feel at ease when your partner is around and if for any reason it does not come naturally, this is a serious signal the future of the relationship ought to be thought over.

A sustainable relationship rests on a healthy balance between giving and taking. If the balance is not struck for prolonged period of time on a level of relationship as a whole, the party which gives more than gets is bound to grow frustrated and put their misery to an end.

Never try to act not like yourself to live up to your partner’s expectations. No matter how hard you try, you will sooner of later run out of energy to pretend to be a better version of yourself. Bending over backwards will turn your relationship sour.

Living under one roof is one of two biggest test a relationship is put to (the other is birth of a child). The time when your find yourself in a daily routine, down-to-earth stuff needs to be handled and not only good moments are shared is also usually a time when get to know your partner better… Around such time people tend to cease to make efforts to attract your partner, care less, foster the relationship less…

Foundations of a relationship should be built on similarities, while differences tear the relationship apart. Common ground and similar approach to life increase the probability the relationships get ahead. Differences come in useful if thanks to them partners complement each other, but in terms of “approach to life”, differences do more harm than good.

Out of guilty conscience, because you feel sorry for them, out of fear of loneliness and not finding a better partner and several other… are not reasons to be with somebody. Unless you have children, which complicates things a bit or a lot, if not love keeps you together, time to consider whether to quit… And even you wonder frequently “should I stay or should I go”, the answer is already clear – quit!

In spite of the above, the very decision to break up must not be taken in a rush and ought to be well-thought-out. And before a relationship is terminated, mature partners should attempt to fix it (there are exception to this consideration, such as lie, infidelity, etc.). Plus such decision, when taken and communicated to the partner, is irrevocable!

If you decide to live together, the splitting up is not just a matter of a few words and saying “bye”. In many circumstances you just cannot cut yourself off, which might sound as the best option. We lived in one flat for over two weeks after the break-up. With hindsight, though I was reproached by some people for not packing my suitcases and returning to parents’ house immediately, I believe it was the right course of things. Had I been able to cut it off, I probably would have still wondered whether the decision had been good. But after seeing my ex-girlfriend what she was like for a while, my conviction of making a right move on 18 July 2018 has been strengthened.

Looks like I have broken away, but based on my friends’ and mine observations, I am in the minority of people who have had courage to quit. My recently devised concept, backed by suggestions of other persons is that once you decide to break up to fall off the edge of a slow descent and plunge yourself into the realm of unknown, uncertainty. Inevitably you will find yourself in the doldrums far worse than if stuck in a bad relationship, but to sacrifice today to trade it for a chance you a far better future. 

This is illustrated on the chart to the right (copyrights: Student SGH): the red line represents lasting in a dead-end relationship, the green one, breaking up. Short-term effects look tragic, but in the longer run the braver ones win!

And for the record – I regret nothing what has happened between early 2017 when it started and today and no matter what I have lost, I am better off anyway.

My thanks again to Marcin, Ola, Martyna, Patrycja, Krzysiek, some of my workmates and my parents for keeping me company through that difficult time.

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