{"id":18629,"date":"2019-03-20T08:00:27","date_gmt":"2019-03-20T15:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/datemixstaging.wpengine.com\/?p=18629"},"modified":"2021-05-31T09:29:27","modified_gmt":"2021-05-31T16:29:27","slug":"unrequited-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.zoosk.com\/date-mix\/love\/unrequited-love\/","title":{"rendered":"Unrequited Love: Why It Hurts and How to Get Over It"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Unrequited love hurts. If there\u2019s someone in your life you\u2019re in love with who doesn\u2019t return your feelings, it can be extremely difficult to be around them. Whether you\u2019ve developed feelings for a close friend and don\u2019t want to risk ruining your friendship, have feelings for someone who could never return them, or are still in love with your ex, it\u2019s not a great feeling. At all.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why does unrequited love hurt so badly? <\/span>Merriam-Webster defines \u201cunrequited\u201d<\/span><\/a> as,  \u201cnot reciprocated or returned in kind.\u201d Basically, unrequited love is a sneaky form of rejection, even though you may have never even put yourself out there in the first place. Even though unrequited love is painful, it is possible to get over it. Here\u2019s how.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Start by asking yourself if the unrequited love could ever become requited love.
\n<\/b>In other words: Does the person you\u2019re in love with <\/span>know<\/span><\/i> that you\u2019re in love with them? It\u2019s one thing if you haven\u2019t confessed your feelings to someone, because it means you still have a shot. But it\u2019s another if you\u2019ve told someone you have feelings for them and they didn\u2019t return them, or if the person you\u2019re in love with is off-limits. We\u2019re going to focus on the latter\u2014and how to get over it.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Allow yourself to wallow.
\n<\/b>Getting over unrequited love is, in a lot of ways, like getting over a breakup. Even though you didn\u2019t necessarily have a relationship with this person, you\u2019re still allowed to be sad about what could have been. Wallowing is an important part of breakups, and it\u2019s an important part of getting over unrequited love, too. Take as much time as you need to feel your heartbreak.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Accept that some forms of unrequited love can simply never be.
\n<\/b>At least not in their current form. If you\u2019re secretly in love with your boss or pining after your sister\u2019s husband, those are not feelings you should act on in this present moment. Sometimes, we just have to accept that not all love can or should be pursued. It sucks, but in some ways, acknowledging it may help you come to terms with it.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Put yourself back out there.
\n<\/b>You don\u2019t have to rush back into dating, but meeting new people can be a nice distraction. More importantly, it can help you re-calibrate your relationship needs. Was the subject of your unrequited love really who you were looking for, or have your tastes and needs changed?<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Be kind to yourself.
\n<\/b>Getting over unrequited love is hard. There\u2019s no set amount of time it should take and no one thing you absolutely have to do to get through it. Remember: Unrequited love doesn\u2019t make you a failure; it just means you\u2019re human.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Try to see unrequited love as a beautiful thing. Yes, it hurts that someone didn\u2019t return your feelings, but it\u2019s wonderful that you\u2019re capable of offering someone so much love. When you find the person who gladly accepts it and returns it, those who didn\u2019t will fade into the background.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Loving someone who doesn’t love you can be especially painful. But there are ways to get through it. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":79,"featured_media":18641,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[987,997],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-love","category-love-advice"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nUnrequited Love: Why It Hurts and How to Get Over It<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Unrequited love hurts. 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