Day 120 from a Dumpee
Hey guys, it has been roughly 120 days since the start of NC after being dumped. As promised, I'd drop in every 30 days to give some highlights & reflections:
(fyi: my Day 60 post is on Page 605, day 90 post is on Page 606.)
Breadcrumbs
There has still been no contact & breadcrumbs from her. Its now been 3 months. As every day went on since my last update Day 90, the finality of accepting that she will not contact me or ever come back becomes harder to refuse. If she wanted to get back into my life, she would have. So at this point, I believe she has totally moved on, monkey branched or forgotten about me. Honestly, it doesn't really hurt that much anymore thinking about this reality anymore. I mean I've lived like this for 120 days. You sort of just get used to it. There is still a part of me that misses her, but the pain has largely dissipated. There are many days I don't think about her at all. So seriously compared to the first 1 month or 2 months; there is such a great difference.
Sex, Dating & Feeling Better After Being Dumped
I've hooked up with a couple of chicks and had a bunch of flings in the first 3 months. Some of them were smoking hot. Had some monkey sex. But in my experience, sex really did not help me heal as much as my self-improvement did. My experience with sex is that it gives a temporary short of high but the day after, you're back at square one. So for those chasing sex as a form of moving on from this, I'd advise against it. On the other hand, over the past several months, I've been working out, reading, learning and also pursuing new ambitions. The results I've gotten in these areas have overall helped me improve as a person and are bringing me to newer heights than before. These results have actually made me feel more confident about myself and made me feel more satisfied with the amounts of effort I've put in. No doubt they have also helped me gotten more attention from girls. So I suppose the note to myself would be to chase the work and let the girls chase you. The work and self-improvement are actually much more satisfying, fun and help you move on in a deeper way than sex would. (With that said, I am also still on dating apps, I just don't use them as religious as I did in the first 2 months).
Self Improvement After Being Dumped
I do notice some setbacks though. In the beginning months, I was in deep pain and that gave me a lot of fuel which propelled me to intensely work out and pursue self-improvement but now that the pain has largely dissipated, I am becoming less motivated and fuelled to push. I would sometimes slack off a bit; I am afraid of falling off the bandwagon of self-improvement so I am currently making a conscious attempt to move my motivation of improvement from the pain of heartbreak to a general motivation stemming from within myself. But my point here is, break-up is in fact one of the best things that happened to me this year. It pushed me really far and to my very limits and made me yearn for more in life. When I was in the relationship I was way too comfortable. Which on this note, I'd like to share that if I were presented another chance to be with her again or a scenario that the breakup never happened; I would refuse it. The break up really made me grow as a person, she and our relationship were really holding me down from being the best version of me. So as cliche as it sounds, it really is the best thing that has happened to me so far. I think back to my own development of being with her and the duration of our relationship, I was stagnating, declining and being betatized. I deserve to be so much more.
The Idea Of Addiction
Finally, I've been thinking a lot lately on the idea that recovering from being dumped/heartbreak is like recovering from an addiction. I think this is so true. Thinking back to my emotional trajectory and behaviour over the last 4 months, I think much of the symptoms I experienced were those of an addict. Our dysfunctional relationship was so ingrained into my psyche that it really became a part of me. To pull away was one of the most painful things to do. At the very beginning of it, I had intense emotional pain of not having the girl. It was like withdrawal. Even when I began to rationally see the cracks and red flags of our very dysfunctional relationship; I irrationally still wanted her back and would often think about her randomly for months. I'll be honest, even today I do, just much lesser and in a more mellow way. This emotional turmoil deeply affected me and even my work. I would spend so much time searching online for hope of her coming back at some point. But the longer that time went on and the longer I continued to force myself to pull away with no contact, the more clarity I got as to how addicted I was. The most important realisation is that much of the desires to for her contact or get her back at the beginning is just your addiction speaking to you; its you being irrational. It is very painful to break that irrational cycle but it must be done. Addiction only leads to suffering and less power and control in our lives. This episode so far has made me really sympathise with the sort of suffering that drug addicts go through, I realise how difficult it is now.
Some advice for my bros
I think many of my bros who are currently in the early stages or struggling with NC, I know it is very difficult. I've been through it now for 4 months now. I know the hardships we have to go through daily with NC, the deep emotional pain we are in. But it has to be done. With time, you will come to realise that this is the best thing that will happen to you. You existed as a person on a path before you met this girl; most likely she has derailed you off your course and made her the center/purpose of your life. You became addicted. You are addicted now. (I was addicted to the sex appeal of my girl and rationalised other cute/happy stuff, most likely you too). You have to move away from that and gain back control of your life. You are probably wondering whether NC will get her back, I was doing that too. But honestly, at a certain point it doesn't really matter anymore because after NC'ing for a long time, you start to realise maybe she was not that good for you after all. The relationship is most likely problematic or dysfunctional otherwise it would not have ended. So it comes to a situation where you're only cherishing the memories of the beautiful times, overlooking the bad and red flags. After NC for awhile when presented the chance again to be together, you probably wouldn't because of how much growth you could go through without her. So bros, please be aware of this when you are considering whether to NC/break NC. We are men, pain is a part of growth!
I will continue to chart my journey with the next update on day 150. Hang in there bros. Wish us all the best.