When you first split up after a long relationship, I find that there is often a queue of people ready to offer helpful advice such as “there are plenty more fish in the sea” and “don’t worry, time is a great healer”. Both of these may well be right but you absolutely don’t want to hear them when you’re half an inch from a complete and utter emotional breakdown.
As an utterly non-violent person (I’ve never hit anyone in my entire life), even I got to the point at the tail end of last year where I was ready to punch the next person who told me that time was a great healer… I already know that it is, I’ve lost relationships before, but there’s something about these cliches when you’re in your darkest moments of despair that seems to be extraordinarily insensitive and cruel – right up until your addiction to love breaks (as it did for me recently) and then suddenly, I find myself parroting the same cliches back to people as reasons why I’m clearly so much better than I was a month ago.
Hell, I can even laugh about it now. Maybe I ought to order myself one of these.
