Whereas it can reply the “what if…” query as soon as and for all, it’s best to suppose lengthy and arduous about reaching out to a previous love, particularly should you’re presently in a relationship.
1 Be clear why you’re doing it. Do you continue to have romantic emotions for them or simply need to rekindle the friendship?
2 Are you ready for them to be a unique particular person than the one you keep in mind?
3 Are you able to settle for that you would be able to’t “repair” the previous, regardless of how a lot you’d wish to?
4 Are you able to cope should you really feel a surge of previous feelings for them that you just did not anticipate, that will not be reciprocated?
5 Even should you’re in a contented and safe relationship proper now, reaching out to an ex—or them with you—can unwittingly rock the boat should you confuse recollections of previous emotions for that particular person together with your emotions within the right here and now. now. now.
6 Relationship counselor Eithne Bacuzzi says, “As a relationship counselor, I want to difficulty a warning round revisiting previous flames, particularly via social media. Each events must have clear and exact boundaries from the beginning, as they typically have completely different expectations of the place the reconnection will lead, which then turns into an issue.”
Pictures by Unsplash.
An expanded model of this text initially appeared within the Quantity 1 (January/February) 2020 difficulty of IMAGE Journal.