I'm tired of a breakup culture that says you have to hate the person who ended it. Yes, it sucks, but breakups happen for a reason and you can either regret it and wallow, or you can try to move forward with the "whatever happens happens" mentality.

Here's the thing about breakups, which I have come to understand. They teach you that real love is both worth fighting for AND worth waiting for — whether that be with your old love or waiting for a new one to come along. They teach you to trust your gut, and yeah they teach you about healing and the strength inside you blah blah blah whatever. But they taught me that it's possible for two people to go down separate paths, in hopes that one day their paths will cross again.

I hate the thought of romanticizing breakups. I don't care if you're the doer or the receiver, it's never (or, should never) be easy. The best way to try to move on from a relationship when you don't hate the person is to try to make peace with what happened. You have to accept that things are out of your hands. If the universe brings you together again then wonderful. If it doesn't, then the universe is going to have you end up with someone better.

I don't think anyone wants to accept this at first. Some people might not even accept it after awhile, but in reality, saying goodbye isn't the end all be all anymore. It is so easily accessible to reach out to someone after time has passed and your heart has healed, that to assume you will never speak to that person again is almost unrealistic in this culture.

Breaking up might seem unfair, the break up probably broke your heart. It might even break the other person's heart too. But at the end of the day, as much as you don't want it to, life will go on. Things will get better even though it seems impossible at the moment.

It's possible to end things on good terms. It's possible to stay hopeful that your paths will cross again someday. It doesn't make you crazy, or clingy or whatever negative thing is usually associated with girls like that (as long as you continue to move forward with your life). Life goes on, and you have to move on too, but staying hopeful doesn't mean staying in the past. It just means you believe in the love that you shared.