Ending a relationship is rarely easy, but it's especially difficult to cope with a rough break up or divorce after a long-term partnership. If you don't know where to go from here, don't worry -- you can make it through this. The keys to a healthy recovery are planning ahead and prioritizing your emotional health.

Handling Practical Troubles

When you have been living with a partner or spouse for a long period of time, it's natural for some household needs to be delegated. You might handle bills while your partner does chores around the house, for example. As a result, splitting up can have practical ramifications for how you live your life on your own. It's important to make a plan for how you will handle bills, chores, and other practical requirements.

To get started, consider making lists of your various responsibilities. Splitting them into categories like chores or payments might help you keep organized. Once you feel you have a full view of your responsibilities, including any that your partner used to do for you, then you can make a schedule that will allow you to get everything done.

Having a daily, weekly, or monthly schedule of tasks can help you avoid unintended complications after your breakup, but it can also help you cope during your recovery period. When you have small goals for each day, it's can be easier to keep going and not wallow in your sadness.

Letting Yourself Heal

The intense emotions that follow after a big breakup or divorce are significant, and you won't be able to just shrug them off or avoid them. The biggest way you can speed up the process of grieving for your relationship is just to give yourself permission to feel whatever you feel. Whether the breakup makes you angry, sad, hopeless, or anxious, it's important not to feel guilty for your emotions. There is no right way to feel about a breakup, and all you can do is ride out the storm.

Don't be ashamed when this sudden change in your life affects other aspects of it. You may work more slowly or need to take time off more often while you recover from your breakup. Communicate about your troubles with your boss or your human resources department, and hopefully your work can accommodate your short-term needs.

Most importantly, don't go it alone. Talk to friends, family, and professionals about your feelings after the breakup, and keep them updated about your well-being. Many people in your life will no doubt be happy to give you help when you need it, but they won't know that you need it unless you tell them.

Nurturing Personal Growth

Just like you have to learn to be practically self-sufficient again after your separation, you also have to learn how to be emotionally independent. In addition to coping with the loss of the relationship, this means enabling yourself to continue to grow and develop beyond who you were with your partner. 

Take time every day to consider whether you enjoy the work that you do and any hobbies you have. Make lists of interests you'd like to pursue and skills you want to cultivate, and then find out what you can do to further those ends. For example, if you've always wanted to be better at sketching, now might be a good time to take art classes at a local college or watch tutorials online to hone your skills.

Improving yourself will help you feel a sense of self-love and self-respect, which are vital to your emotional well-being. Plus, you'll also be more interested when you eventually re-enter the dating pool!

Getting back into the rhythm of life can be difficult after a long-term relationship ends, but that doesn't mean it's impossible. If you keep putting one foot in front of the other, and seek help from friends, family, and professionals when you need it, then you'll find yourself feeling healthy and happy again sooner than you might think. For more information, you may want to contact a local counseling center like Park Center Inc.