Breaking Up

I’m life coach and counselor Peter Winslow, and the subject of my last entry was breaking up with a significant other. In that post we saw that our break-ups can signify a new beginning and lead to a stronger and clearer relationship with the most important person in your life—you.

To focus on the bright side of any breakup, use these helpful tips:

- Clean and organize your personal space

This helps you feel refreshed and prepared for new things to come. A messy environment can be stifling and depressing, and can increase mental stress. Keep yourself moving by organizing your space, which will enable you to focus and keep you from recycling past pain. As simple as this sounds, it really does help you feel better about things.

- Remove memory triggers

We are surrounded by "triggers" that can push our buttons without us even knowing it. As you clean and organize your space, be sure to remove everything that may possibly trigger a headache or heartache. If you have keepsakes which remind you of the good aspects of your relationship, there's nothing wrong with keeping them, but put them away for later when you've had enough time to release the negative or painful feelings.

- Hold a symbolic ceremony

As you clean out your personal space, gather everything that reminds you of your last relationship and have a ceremony of closure. You can throw away the items, burn them (safely, please) or donate them to a deserving charity. As you do, give a eulogy to the relationship and express it out loud. You'll soon find that as you clear your space of things from the past, you create brand new space to receive what you truly want and deserve.

 –Peter Winslow