1. Maintain your routine. Get up at your regular time. Drink your coffee. Take your vitamins. Go to the gym. For the love of God, DO NOT miss the gym. This is most critical.
  2. Stop the bleeding. First, do no harm. Quit talking and texting when it is only causing more hurt, pain and damage to you AND him. Block him, even if it is just temporarily, to keep yourself from being drawn into any manipulation or ongoing arguments that will only prove futile and siphon out your emotional energy which is ALREADY an exhaustible resource. Give yourself time and space. Take care of yourself as best as you can because that is what you can control.
  3. Pray.
  4. Buy yourself a box of your favorite cookies or treat (limit 1 per heartbreak). LOL
  5. Try on the outfits in your closet that make you feel beautiful.
  6. Rest. Sleep is mondo critical during this time.
  7. Do NOT spend money. When emotion is high, logic is low and accumulating debt from emotional spending only makes life harder for your future self.
  8. Do everything with your future self in mind. She is the one that is your responsibility. Do everything you can muster to prepare to make life easier for her.
  9. Do NOT drink alcohol or eat ice cream. Especially the alcohol. Cheap pleasures (numbing agents) will only make life harder for your future self. She needs the opposite.
  10. Accept responsibility for your part in it, whatever “it” looks like, because personal responsibility is key to growth and empowerment. However, do not dwell on it or beat yourself up about it. Take the lesson, leave the guilt, regret, and self-judgment. Do NOT continue to do a post-mortem over and over. Once you have processed it and prayed about it, move on.
  11. Appreciate him and your time together for the purpose it served and benefits and lessons it provided both of you. Conjure up your inner Ariana Grande because thank you, NEXT! Everything happens for a reason.
  12. Wish him well earnestly and pray for his happiness. This is good for him AND you.
  13. For the love of God, stay off of social media. There is no way it will help and SO MANY ways it may add to your suffering.
  14. Limit who you talk to about the blood and guts of the relationship woes and brutal breakup details. This helps with not dwelling on it as well as the risk that you’ll give an unfavorable impression of him (based mostly on emotion) when you really never know if you might grow back together one day.
  15. Immerse yourself in a book or a movie to get your mind off of the situation.
  16. Do some mindless chore or task. It is meditative and will give you a sense of accomplishment that will be a much needed boost during a tough time.
  17. Drink lots of water and eat as nutritiously as possible. This goes without saying, but it’s especially easy during times of heartache to neglect our most basic self-care.
  18. Do not make permanent decisions based on temporary circumstances. Ride this out and give yourself time so you can handle things as well as possible.
  19. Remember that nothing lasts forever, including emotional pain. Even grief in its most painful form morphs over time with healing into post traumatic growth that can be given purpose and lead to better days.
  20. Know that no matter who or what you have lost, you still have complete access and control of self-love which is the most essential type for your well-being and future self apart from agape (love of God for you and you for God; the highest form of love). You also still have your family and friends, and those who you can rely on will be ready and waiting to help you through this when it is the right time.

In the meantime, just breathe and remember, you are never alone. Love abounds all around us, in all its varied forms. God is love.