Breakups can be incredibly hard to cope with. There’s the sense of loss and longing, the sudden change in daily routine, and a whole wash of emotions ranging from anger and betrayal to regret and pining.
It’s only normal to feel this way: Even the chemicals in our brains are affected when a romantic relationship ends. The emotional pain can last for days or weeks or months, and we can spend countless hours fretting about what went wrong.
It can be brutal, there’s no denying that. As the Wizard of Oz himself explained to the Tin Man, “Hearts will never be practical until they are made unbreakable.” But broken things can be fixed, even if the relationship itself cannot be mended.
Sooner or later, it becomes time to move on, for our own sake. It’s easier said than done, but with time it will get better — and often we realize that the breakup was for the best, freeing us to find something, and someone, who will make us far happier than we were before.
The following quotes might just help along that path to recovery, whether it’s the wisdom of Eleanor Roosevelt or the eternal optimism of Winnie the Pooh.
With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts.Eleanor Roosevelt
We must be willing to get rid of the life we’ve planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us. The old skin has to be shed before the new one can come.Joseph Campbell
Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.Dalai Lama
Perhaps someday I’ll crawl back home, beaten, defeated. But not as long as I can make stories out of my heartbreak, beauty out of sorrow.Sylvia Plath
My heart might be bruised, but it will recover and become capable of seeing the beauty of life once more. It's happened before, it will happen again, I'm sure.Paulo Coelho
Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world.Lucille Ball
Someday you’re gonna look back on this moment of your life as such a sweet time of grieving. You’ll see that you were in mourning and your heart was broken, but your life was changing.Elizabeth Gilbert
When you look at the thing, the deeper the heartache the more you needed to learn.Oprah Winfrey
Everybody has bad relationships, and at the end of the day, they are just a great way to set yourself up for a good relationship.Anne Hathaway
Cry. Forgive. Learn. Move on. Let your tears water the seeds of your future happiness.Steve Maraboli
Take your broken heart, make it into art.Carrie Fisher
'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.Alfred Lord Tennyson
I always get to where I am going by walking away from where I have been.Winnie-the-Pooh (Jim Cummings) in “Christopher Robin”
Go outside, to the fields, enjoy nature and the sunshine; go out and try to recapture happiness in yourself; think of all the beauty that’s still left in and around you and be happy!Anne Frank
Featured image credit: anniespratt/ Unsplash
