When did you realize breaking up with your SO was a mistake?

25 comments

1. I’ve never once regretted breaking up with any former SO. It was never a mistake for me; it was a well-thought-out deeply-considered choice.

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3. Roughly 4 SOs later

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6. Maybe like a week after when I realized how much I missed him, but then I got over it a year ish and actually didn’t regret it in the long run

7. I’m curious to see what kind of answers you get because I have never once regretted it. I’ve only ever felt an immediate sense of relief, and while there’s been heartbreak that it didn’t work out, my sense of gratitude that I’m no longer with my past exes has only grown over the years.

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9. I didn’t. He hit me though 🤷🏻

10. I had a habit of underselling myself when I was younger, so I can’t say breaking up was a mistake. The mistake was getting with them in the first place.

11. Never. I always knew what I was doing, it was a well-thought-through decision in every case.

12. When I dreamt that he broke up with me😂😂

13. I have never felt like it was a mistake.

14. In the short term, I regretted it for the first few years after breaking up with him. I was in grad school, lonely, surrounded by douchebags and being sucked into hookup culture. In the long run, no regrets. I am married to someone who is a better fit for me.

15. Absolutely never lol. Even if I missed them and hoped to get back together, that would only be able to happen if some huge changes happened (which didn’t).

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17. When I moved to a different state with a new SO. We became friends again and then I lost him out of my life for good when he tried to go behind my back and lie about me. I still miss him but I’m so mad at him.

18. When the next person that I took an interest in made me truly miserable by comparison. I got back with my first love interest, who is now my hubby.🥰

19. The next day. We were only about 4 months in, and I was depressed and didn’t know how to say it, wasn’t sure if I wanted to reveal that part of me to him. We were texting back and forth that whole day and I realized I shouldn’t have been so hasty. We got back together (even though he said he never got back together with exes), and have been together ever since.

    Before that, I don’t think I had ever regretted a break up.

20. Ten seconds after.

21. When I saw a picture of a baby on his profile picture that looked like him. I cried almost like it was a reflex to stabbing my toe. He had reached out in 2020 and on previous occasions but I’d dismissed him because of low self esteem. The opportunity was there for me to go back to being 19 again, full of hope and instead I turned the cheek because I was ashamed of admitting how life had stood still for me (career, living situation, depression). He messaged me a month ago but it was just to wish me well in light of a recent news story. He didn’t mention the baby, nor did I ask. I thanked him and we haven’t spoken since.

    The funny thing is, he is the ex I always cherish and perhaps a part of my reasoning aside from low self worth is also just wanting to keep hold of that. There’s literally no bad feeling towards him. I still fancy him, lust for him as much as I did then and yet I can ignore him with such ease. I can cry for him, for us and he have no idea. I think I will die without telling him what he meant and I think that’s okay too.

22. I’ve yet to regret any of my breakups.

23. So many good responses here. At first I was sifting through past relationships and feelings of regret and for me it’s always around how the endings came to be, not that they happened. There has been one long term ex that I tried to try again with, and it was just a reminder of how we were not compatible.

24. Breaking up has never been a mistake. Staying together for too, long, OTOH, is a mistake I’ve made many times over.

25. After 20 yrs of dating, I have come to realize maybe I shouldn’t have broken up with my first boyfriend. It really doesn’t get better, and it was much simpler 20 yrs ago.