Discussion: If Somebody Breaks Your Heart, Can You Still Be Friends?
Why do we feel the need to be friends with or make total enemies of our lovers as soon as we break up?
When you’ve been dating someone for a few weeks or even a few years and one of you does something that causes the end of the relationship, can you still be friends? Maybe you’ve had a crush on this guy for a couple months and you’ve been talking and now you have strong feelings for him. Then out of nowhere he tells you, Oh, I just got serious with somebody. Can you still be friends as though you never dated?
Or, if you’ve been in a long term deal and the other partner cheats or tells you they don’t love you anymore, you have The Talk. Inevitably they’ll say, “I love you but I’m not in love with you. I hope we can still be friends.” Can you? Or do you just write them off completely? Can you cut somebody out of your life when they’ve been there for so much of it?