It's finally happened
After weeks of fighting, making up and making out, and phone call after phone call of relationship psychoanalysis, you finally realize that he's too busy watching the Tribe to listen to a word you're saying (or that she's too busy talking to let you relax and watch the Tribe.)
You realize that your relationship is exhausting and you're missing the baseball season because of it. You think it's time to end things.
Well, like Charlton Heston (minus the beard and the guns), I bring down from high above my own Ten Commandments ' the rules and tools of breaking up.
1. Be sure you are sure
Before you take a step toward ending your relationship, make sure that you really want it to end. Having been the remorseful girl that's called back eight hours post-dumping, I can tell you that this routine usually doesn't go over well. Changing your mind after the fact and then trying to fix the damage done likely will leave both you and your ex miserable.
2. Support relationship euthanasia
This is the counterpart to Commandment No. 1. Although it's always good to make sure that you're comfortable with the prospect of being born-again single, don't torture each other. If it's obvious that things are going nowhere, put each other out of your relationship misery.
3. You can't be a little bit broken up
Despite what Facebook might try to tell you, it's not complicated. It's over. You can't be a little bit pregnant, you can't be a little bit dead and the same thing applies to relationships ' you can't be a little bit broken up.
4. Don't do it by phone
Or by e-mail, Instant Messenger or Facebook. Unless one of you is in a foreign country, there's no excuse for not ending things face-to-face.
5. Don't do it in public
You might think this is a good way to avoid facing the wrath of your ex, but having an audience usually doesn't stop people from making a scene. Even if you manage to do the deed in a way that doesn't humiliate both you and the newly dumped, or make everyone around you completely uncomfortable, you still have to walk home feeling either miserable or guilty.
6. Be nice
The relationship is ending, so there is no reason to remind your soon-to-be insignificant other of how much they suck or how much they let you down. The fact the relationship is over is self-explanatory.
7. Be honest
Being the passive-aggressive prima donna that I am, I used to think that it would just be easier to force the guy to break up with me rather than just ending the relationship on my own. I've done things that are dishonest and mean just to avoid telling the truth ' that I've made a commitment I don't have the desire or ability to keep. Not only is that cowardly, it will also make you more miserable in the long run. 8. Cheaters never win
If you're ending a relationship because you're interested in someone else, wait to make your move. You might think that cheating and getting caught or confessing will make for an easier exit, but it doesn't work that way. You might get away with cheating on your master's thesis, but you won't get away with it in a relationship.
9. Give it some time
Yes, it's clich+
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Casey Westlake
