The beginning of a relationship is beautiful and exciting. You can’t wait to see your partner every day, to have them hold you and be with you. It’s a time that’s full of love and happiness that can easily become a lasting, wonderful relationship.
If however, you end up with the wrong person, things can go in a completely different direction. When the person you fell for is toxic, the relationship itself can become unhealthy and distressing. You may not have realized it until it was too late, but you know now that you have to get out.
It’s always hard to leave someone that you love, even if they’re hurting you. When you do end things, the truth about leaving a toxic relationship is that it isn’t what you may have expected.
You’ll Still Love Them
Love is something that lingers, even when your mind tells you that you’re wrong. If you end a toxic relationship you may expect that you’ll despise your ex and be glad that they’re gone. When you’ve said your final goodbye to your toxic partner, you’ll be surprised to find that you still love them.
You’ll think that there’s something wrong with you for still caring for them after all that they’ve done to you. They hurt you, abused you, made your life hell and you still feel something for them. It can make you doubt yourself.
After a while, this love will pass. Being without them will begin to hurt less and eventually, you will stop missing them. You’ll be able to move on and love someone else who will treat you well and respect you.
You’ll Question Yourself
Self-doubt can begin to set in almost immediately once you leave your toxic partner. What if you were wrong about them? What if you were just being dramatic and the relationship wasn’t that bad? How will you ever find someone else who’ll love you?
It’s only natural to question your choices once you leave any relationship. Don’t let these devious voices take over though. You left the relationship for a reason. It’s not right that you should return to a toxic situation and put yourself at risk. The voices will fade with time if you learn to ignore them.
You’ll Hurt
Leaving any kind of relationship will make you feel hurt and upset. After a toxic relationship, however, things can feel much worse. These kinds of dynamics between a couple can, in fact, give you PTSD once you’ve left.
You’ll feel worthless, guilty, and fearful, but these feelings will go away. With the support of loved ones, or even through supporting yourself, you can fight your demons and move on with your life.
You’ll Become Your True Self Again
All the anxiety and trauma that follows after leaving the relationships will not last forever. You’ll face some of the worst pain that you’ll ever experience in your life and will end up stronger because of it. Overcoming this awful period in your life will give you the confidence to know that you can do anything.
You’ll realize how much being with a toxic partner has changed you. You became a smaller version of yourself that was afraid of the world. With time, your real self will begin to come back into view. You’ll become the person that you were before your partner hurt you.
You’ll Get Over Them
Although in the beginning, you felt that you would never love someone else, you will one day. You thought that your toxic partner was your entire world. Even worse than that, you believed that they were the only person who would ever love you. As time goes on, you’ll realize that this wasn’t true.
Getting over a toxic partner is difficult, but you can do it. You’ll learn to love again and forget about your old relationship. From now on, you’ll know that what you had with them wasn’t real, it was abuse that you suffered and managed to overcome.
You may be reluctant to leave your relationship but staying in something that is toxic to you is detrimental for your wellbeing. Don’t worry about hurting the other person, they’ve already hurt you enough. Leaving is a form of self-care that will make your life so much happier.
It will be extremely tough at the beginning, but like all things, it will get better. You are strong enough to move on without them.
If you have a loved one who needs to leave a toxic relationship or perhaps has already left one, share this with them. Let them know that the road ahead may be full of twists and turns, but they have the power to reach the horizon.
