• MORE MOST READ STORIES
Get off that couch and run, swim, stretch, dance. Do something—just move
AS EXPECTED, every relationship status on Facebook has been addressed—hijacked is more like it—by event coordinators, especially this Valentine season.

There are candlelight dinners for the blissfully married. Wedding fairs for the engaged. Drinking blitzes for those who choose to define the relationship as “complicated.” And speed-dating gigs for the singles.

Going through my friends list, I see that a new category has formed: The-freshly-broken-up.

If you find yourself in that group, know that your rejection of anything with Cupid’s bow and arrow is completely understandable. Don’t give a hey to those who look at you with pity in their eyes and impolitely comment on how now isn’t the best time to come out of a relationship.

The truth is, if it’s really not going to work, the perfect time to break up is sooner than later. It might not seem like it, but your breakup is a blessing. To be free from a wrong arrangement is a gift and a way toward a brighter, better future.

So now, what’s for you to do, you ask? Loads. Here’s a list.

Travel

Stop stalking everyone on Facebook and get out. Get around. Pack that bag and go. Take long bus rides. Get lost. Whether alone or with friends, traveling reconnects us to the fact that the world is still far bigger than everything we’ve known so far, and the unfamiliar comforts us that life goes beyond our little circle.

Get beautiful

Chomping away at home on bags of Cheetos while watching reruns of “Grey’s Anatomy” will have its charm for a while. However, taking this route repeatedly might just dig you a hole of depression. Get off that couch and run, swim, stretch, dance. Do something. Just move. You’ll find in the long run that exercise won’t just be good for your health and your wardrobe, the adrenaline rush is bound to make you feel better, too.

Write a bucket list

So you feel like the last few months or years of your life have been wasted. Get over it. Relish that you have today to make use of and, most probably, tomorrow, too. What is it you’ve been wanting to do but haven’t done yet? Create a checklist of goals, give yourself a deadline, and work on achieving each and every one of them. This is the time to focus on what you want to do with your life.

Buddy up

Being in a relationship sometimes makes us neglect our family and friends. Now is a good time to rekindle bonds with them. They most likely have missed your company and, given enough time, will voluntarily share a funny advice or two on why you shouldn’t get back with your ex.

Exorcise the Ex

A word of warning: This activity is not for those who tremble. A friend of mine suggested once to another friend whose engagement was broken off to go to all the places she and her ex considered “theirs.”

Take a friend with you, if it will give you more strength. In each place you visit, face it like the brave soul that you are and repeat to yourself, “We are not together anymore. This place will still be here tomorrow. It will not be swallowed by earth and that’s okay. I’m moving on.”

Do yourself a favor and utter these words in your head. You’re trying to break your chains with the past, not threaten public security.

Don’t worry about the pressures of February. If there’s one thing common to most of mankind this month, it’s not the cheerful celebration of Valentine’s but the death of the resolutions we made at the beginning of the year.

But since this pessimistic point of view is of no value to any of us, let’s count our blessings instead and let life go on. March comes soon enough.
Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer