{"id":51655,"date":"2011-02-16T10:42:00","date_gmt":"2011-02-16T10:42:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2011-02-16T10:42:00","modified_gmt":"2011-02-16T10:42:00","slug":"game-plan-helping-your-friend-through-breakup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/digiblocks.ca\/29secrets\/relationships\/game-plan-helping-your-friend-through-breakup\/","title":{"rendered":"The Game Plan: Helping Your Friend Through a Breakup"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Have you ever found yourself dispensing tissues and Chardonnay to a broken-hearted friend<\/a>, all the while hating yourself for spewing meaningless phrases like it just wasn’t meant to be\u009d or time heals all wounds\u009d?<\/p>\n

Breakups are the worst.<\/strong> No matter whether the truth is that you’re thrilled that she’s rid of her ex<\/a>, or your dreams of a BFF double-wedding are shattered, your role is to help her make those first little baby-steps away from uncontrollable sobbing, towards normal functioning.<\/p>\n

Resist the temptation to a) veer into furious outrage on her behalf, b) remind her of your own terrible breakup and subsequent happily-ever-after, or c) put on a fake chipper, upbeat front. These are all things that make the situation less uncomfortable for you, but are absolutely zero help to your friend.<\/p>\n

The best things you can do as the designated shoulder to cry on:<\/strong><\/p>\n

– Validate your friend’s feelings by listening attentively while she vents<\/p>\n

– Active nodding without interrupting<\/em>, and<\/p>\n

– When she pauses (or takes a break to blow her nose), sneak in some short supportive key phrases such as\u00a6<\/p>\n

It’s his<\/em> loss.\u009d<\/strong> (The damn truth.)<\/p>\n

You deserve better.\u009d<\/strong> (This will boost her shaky confidence, especially if the evil ex comes crawling back while her defenses are down.)<\/p>\n

Now you<\/em> have the control.\u009d<\/strong> (Remind her that she is a competent, accomplished woman, and she can choose to let someone else’s actions devastate her, or not.)<\/p>\n

I am here for you.\u009d <\/strong>(Unless she goes back to the evil ex. Just kidding.) <\/p>\n

Your turn: What’s the most ridiculous breakup clich\u00e9\u00a9 someone ever said you?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Sympatico Image<\/div>\n

\"w_-_friend_dump_150x150.jpg\"<\/div>\n

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Sympatico Footer<\/div>\n
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Related Content:<\/strong>
– Should You Tell a Friend to Dump her Boyfriend?<\/a>
– Does Your Friend Gush Too Much About Her Guy?<\/a>
– From Ex-Lover to Friend<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Forget the usual clich\u00c3\u00a9s and implement the following plan for propping up a broken-hearted sister<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67633,"featured_media":62043,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[64613],"tags":[68118,67198,68095,70226,66461,70269,70270,70271,68122,68603,70272,70273],"class_list":["post-51655","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-relationships","tag-carey-mulligan","tag-break-ups","tag-dealbreaker","tag-people-magazine","tag-dumped","tag-kermit","tag-little-monsters","tag-wearing-fur","tag-miuccia","tag-perfumes","tag-controlling-relationships","tag-maintain-control-relationship"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Game Plan: Helping Your Friend Through a Breakup - 29Secrets<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Have you ever found yourself dispensing tissues and Chardonnay to a broken-hearted friend, all the while hating yourself for spewing meaningless phrases like \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Game Plan: Helping Your Friend Through a Breakup - 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