Following a breakup it can be difficult to manage your emotions and not let your sadness overwhelm you. Many people have trouble letting go of the past or simply accepting that a chapter of their life has come and gone.
The thought that things will never be the same and the fear of being alone can make it even more difficult to keep it together. Even when you feel like you have made progress things can unravel when you see your ex.
In this article we will try to explain to you how to control your emotions and give you practical tools and tips to change your outlook and have more serenity when facing your ex.
I cry when I see my ex because I am still in love
When I speak to people during one on one coaching sessions I often hear them say “I cry when I see my ex because I am still in love with them”; although this can be true, most of the time it isn’t their primary cause of grief or sorrow.
You are crying because you are emotionally dependent in regards to your ex; you project your happiness through your relationship. In essence you are crying because you have lost the belief in your capacity to be happy on your own or to find ways to be happy in the future.
This identity crisis is dangerous and self-defeating. Although you are attached to your ex you have the power to overcome this emotional dependence, regain self-confidence and even ultimately get back with your ex.
Do a radio Silence
The initial recommendation that I give to people during one on one coaching sessions is to do a radio silence. You need to get away from your ex for a few weeks and severe all contact in order to regain perspective in regard to your current situation. A physical separation can be the catalyst to a mental separation.
Don’t just pretend to have moved on or to not be interested in hearing about them; truly take more interest in your own development and well-being rather than what they may or may not be doing. Force yourself not to spy on your ex on social media or to ask mutual friends about updates. Try to really breakaway from the past relationship and enter into a new dynamic.
Simply ignoring your ex won’t be enough to get you to stop crying the next time you see them; time won’t heal all the wounds! You need to be actively looking to regain a sense of independence and push yourself outside of your comfort zone during this period.
Stay active and busy
Staying active and busy is a sure way to stop overthinking about your current situation and to engage in a new positive dynamic. Staying active and busy will enable you to quickly break away from a state of emotional dependence.
Look to fill your days and your down time as much as possible. Stray away from passive activities such as watching television or going down a rabbit hole on social media platforms.
On the contrary look to increase your levels of physical activity and even take on a new sport; it can be swimming, running in groups or even tennis or any other sport that interests you. Being active will enable you to release your frustration and negative emotions and drastically increase your chances of controlling your feelings the next time that you see your ex.
Have projects and look forward
Another way to ensure that you won’t cry the next time you see your ex and to rebuild your self-esteem is to take a goal minded approach in your everyday life. Set small goals on a daily and weekly basis in order to monitor your progress, to keep yourself accountable and to feel good about reaching a target that you may have set for yourself.
You also need to be able to project yourself into the future and look to have long term goals that you may want to achieve both in your personal and professional lives. The ability to dream big and to chase endeavors that may seem impossible to some will enable you to feel better and to detach yourself emotionally from your ex.
One of the goals or projects that you can have is to try to de-program your mind in relations to your ex and to your previous relationship. To do so, write on a yellow sticky: “I will no longer cry when I see my ex; I am happy and have found inner peace”. Stick this post it on your bathroom mirror for instance or somewhere else where you won’t miss it.
Read it out loud 5 times every morning after you wake up and right before going to bed every day for a period of 21 days. If you are thorough and doing this exercise in conjunction with other changes in your daily life as we suggested, you will be in a position to de-program your mind and not cry the next time you see your ex!
Take control of your emotions
Make the decision to take control of your emotions and to change your life in the process. You do not have to be a victim to your sentimental past; you can even use this experience in order to be stronger and more positive about life in general.
Once you have regained a sense of emotional independence and regained self-confidence, you won’t even have to worry about crying when you are confronted to your ex. You will be more assertive and have a sense of direction and in turn will be in a position to re-seduce your ex.
If you are currently going through a rough post breakup transition or if you are in another set of circumstances where you believe that you will crack and cry the next time that you see your ex, leave us a message in the comments section below. I will be sure to respond to every comment received and provide you with a personalized answer to help you overcome your negative emotions.
Your coach to bounce back from a state of emotional dependence in order to never again say “I cry when I see my ex”,
Adrian
6 Responses
I saw my ex today, I had to go to his parents house today to get some thing of mine. I was hoping he wasnt there and initially he wasn’t. Then he showed up. I started shaking and my heart was beating out of my chest and then I had to go and hid behind my truck because I birsted into tears. I did my best to hid it. We haven’t lived together in almost 6 months and officially done for 2 months. We tried to make it work or at least I should say I tried. His brother who’s my good friend came overy and threw me in the truck aND he drove me down the street so I could collect myself
Hey,
Thanks for sharing your story, do you have any specific question that I can address or help you with.
Here for you if need be, stay strong!
Best,
Adrian
Hi, so my last relationship was so intense and we were so in love, he is an amazing person so warm and kind and now that we are over I cant stop crying every time we even talk on the phone because I don’t feel him anymore. We had such a deep connexion, we are soul mates could read eachothers feelings, he would always feel me and know me even better than I knew myself sometimes, and now I feel him so cold and detached with me. Its like I can feel de doesn’t love me anymore and it kills me. We work together and our families are connected and we are supposedly still best friends. But he is changed the way he acts with me and it has been since May that we are over it is now September and we don’t talk all the time and when we don’t I feel like I make progress then we talk again and I can feel how the wound is literally ripped open again. I don’t know how to heal in this case, I do all the things you suggested in your article but I just talk to him once and it feels like I regress. I don’t know how to move on. And I cant stop talking to him either because we work in the same company so sometimes its necessary we communicate for a or b reason. I don’t know how to fix this, I still love life and I am happy when I’m alone, but then I hear from him and remember the time with him and I immediately feel empty like its just not the same. I was so happy before this relationship i radiated it and thats what attracted us to one another he lit up my world and I his. So I don’t know how he can be so cold and indifferent now. I don’t know how to get back to myself before this happened? How to radiate happiness and positivity once again… help
It’s normal to not recognize an ex after a breakup…
I can tell you more and what to do to turn things around if you want to work with me. Just book a phone coaching session.
Regards,
Adrian
My boyfriend of 4 years broke up with me 6 months ago, but we tried to make it work for another 6 months. 2 weeks ago he suddenly stopped talking to me and this weekend I heard he’s seeing another girl and that they’re getting really serious really fast. My ex and I have a lot of common friends and I feel kind of isolated because my ex is going to their parties with his new girlfriend. Because of that I can’t go, and I feel like I can’t really talk to my friends because of their friendship with my ex. It’s really hard to understand that he can move on so quickly and that he can just be happy and can start a new relationship this fast while our relationship meant so much to me. The question I have: how can I keep calm when I bump into him, his new girlfriend or even worse: them both at the same time? I’m doing the best I can to avoid them, but we live in a small village. I’m feeling so isolated because every time I want to go outside I think: I might bump into them if I go here, I might bump into them if I go there. What if I do? I’m crying so much every day, and I’m really afraid that I will cry if I see one of them.
Hi there, my ex left me for someone else. We were together for nearly 2 years and was planning on moving in together but i was never open about how I felt about a future with her, I was emotionally shut off but I still thought and still do think she’s the right one for me. She isn’t talking to me because she’s got another guy, at the moment I’m strong, positive and confident. I know I can win her back in theory but I’m terrified she says that she wants nothing to do with me coz she’s got this other guy. Should I contact her and try retract her and potentially ruin my chances of getting her back because she’ll put up her guard for good or wait till her new relationship is not as stable as she had hoped and risk her moving to another guy after him while she’s got to the point where she’s completely over me?