“It is better to end something and start another than imprison yourself and hope for the impossible.”

So, you met somebody. And things are going great for a while: your friends all love him, your family loves him, and his friends and family adore you too. You do everything together, from taking naps between classes to fancy date nights at up and coming restaurants.

Suddenly, things start to become more serious. The two of you are taking trips and vacations together, and you start to discuss the future and what it may hold one day. You maybe start to realize the differences in your goals and your futures and you aren’t sure how you feel about things.

Slowly but surely, you realize the person you had been falling in love with for the past few months isn’t who you need them to be. You start seeking out happiness in places you know you shouldn’t and you find yourself analyzing every moment you spend with them wondering, “Is this really what I need?”

You start making pro and con lists, reading online articles about relationships, and talking to your friends, desperately looking for advice and hoping this is just a bad feeling that will pass.

You sadly come to the realization that you simply just…aren’t happy anymore. It’s nobody’s fault, nobody did anything wrong, the two of you just have different aspirations and life plans that just don’t match anymore.

It's okay to end it. Really, it is. You may be having doubts now, which is perfectly normal, but just remember that you're allowed to be selfish sometimes when it comes to your own happiness. Your real friends will stay by your side and support you and your choices.

Take a few days and allow yourself to be sad. Even if you're the one ending things, breakups are still sad and once again, it's totally normal to feel down about what happened.

It takes a while, but you start to move on. You start doing things more independently, you get lunch with friends you haven't seen in a while, maybe you even take up a kickboxing class or two with some friends. You recognize that you can be whole without another half, and although it seems difficult at first, you start to regain your sense of identity and enjoy life more. Remember, not everything lost is a loss.