Holly Riordan

You don't want to pretend your past never happened, pretend your ex never existed, pretend your heartache isn't real -- but you don't want to spend every waking moment thinking about him either.

Stop playing the fixer, the healer, the hero.

It can feel like you’re the only one putting in effort. It can feel like you care about your relationship more than the other person cares.

When you're a fixer, it's hard to convince yourself it's time to stop, it's time to step back, it's time to give up.

Being yourselves around each other doesn’t mean being your worst selves around each other.

They'll act like the mean comment they made was only a joke. They'll act like the item they hid or smashed on the floor was only an accident. They'll act like you're making a big deal out of absolutely nothing -- and sometimes, you might even believe them.

You feel like an idiot for the way you behaved, for being so blinded by your feelings that you didn't see this coming.

We have a hard time accepting what happened without knowing all of the details.

You feel in extremes, which is why you have such extreme reactions

Sometimes, you leave questions unanswered. Sometimes, you leave comments unread.

When you tell me you like me, you’re attracted to me, you have fun hanging out with me -- but claim you’re not ready for a relationship right now, it feels like you’re stringing me along.

I'm not jealous when I see you with her anymore because your happiness doesn't take away from my happiness.

When you flirt with someone once and never see them again, you have no idea whether it’s a good thing they’re gone. You have no idea what you missed out on.

The standards I'm holding myself to are impossible. That's why I'm always so frustrated with myself, why I never feel like I'm doing enough.