You will heal a day after your heart gets broken when you tell yourself that the person isn’t worth your tears. That same day, you will remember how things went and break down.

You will heal in a week when your friends remind you of your worth and how much love abounds in the universe. That same week, you will remember the words that were said to you when you were being dumped and break down.

You will heal in two weeks when you break no contact and reach out to the person who hurt you. After one encounter, you will see how differently they treat you and you will break down.

You will heal in a month when they show interest in you like they used to. In a few days, they’ll take the interest back and you will break down.

You will heal in 3 months when you finally understand that things will never return to how they used to be. In a week, you will spend time with them and the deep affection you had towards them will bubble back up, they will go the extra mile to remind you that you mean nothing to them and you will break down.

You will heal when they take a week to reply to your text and tell you they thought they had replied, that is when you will realise they do not think about you anymore. You will see them, have a moment of weakness, crack, get slapped with reality and you will break down.

You will heal when you’re finally ready to delete images, chats, screenshots and everything that reminds you of them. While going through that process, you will see screenshots of them declaring feelings of affection towards you, you will remember how special they made you feel, you will compare that with the final days and you will break down.

You will heal when you go weeks without thinking of them. Your friend will randomly tell you he saw them and a sense of familiarity and fondness will come over you. Your brother will one day ask you a detail about them and you will spend the whole day thinking of what might have been.

You will heal when you think of them months later and you do not feel that familiar tightening in your chest that presents as a gap. You will have a juicy update on a piece of gossip you shared with them, remember you can’t pick up your phone to tell them and you will smile at what their reaction to the update would have been.

You will realise that the only quality that makes them special to you is the level of affection and attention you’ve decided to focus on them.

You will understand that there is an abundance of love and what they made you feel, you will feel again because you have felt it before them.

You will understand that a failed dating stage is not a direct reflection of your self-worth.

You will get over the unusual obsession with being picked by someone else that will overwhelm you.

You will realise that you only want to intensely get into something else because you want to remind yourself that one person rejecting you doesn’t mean someone else won’t want you.

You will remember that your sense of self is not tied to someone else’s feelings towards you and depending on how strong your sense of self is, this may take you days, weeks, months or years, it is okay, you will get there.

You will remember that there are over a billion people in the world and one person isn’t the end of your story.

You will heal when you think of them and feel nothing – no love, no hatred, no indifference, just plain nothingness. You will remember the times you shared with them, smile at the vulnerability and affection you shared with each other, and hope they’re doing well wherever they are.

You will heal many times before you heal and that’s okay. Healing is not a linear process, there will be good days and there will be bad days. Be patient with yourself, let your feelings and emotions run their course.

It may be today, it may be tomorrow, it may be months from now, it is okay, you will heal.