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since last night, i have been rereading my previous blog entries. going back a couple of months, i couldn't help but miss what we used to have.

i know that it's been 9 months since we broke up. i have not forgotten that my friends have been pushing me to put more effort into getting over him, & i realize the wisdom of their counsel. i know that they not only mean well; they are also right. after all, i can't wallow in misery forever.

yes, i know that having loved & lost does not justify curling into a fetal position & wishing that the world would just go away & leave me alone in my despair. i know that i am not the only one who has gone through this, & that so many people before me have survived. i am also quite aware that at some point, the piercing pain would subside into a dull ache, & happy memories would begin to bring smiles once more, not by-products of my lachrymal glands. & i know that this phase is not easy. wow, that's probably the understatement of a lifetime.

i know that this is not easy because i am in this. i'm feeling the immense pain that comes with losing someone i love deeply. once in a while, i am hounded by "what if...?" questions. when i pass by places that have been "ours" at one point or another, i am flooded by memories of what used to be. & almost everytime that happens, i can't help but wish that i still had him with me.

a friend of mine said, "you will always go back to square one". how painful & true. did i already say painful? think about it. you put all your energy into trying to forget that he exists, and/or into trying to accept that what you had is gone. when something new, sad, happy, exciting, or boring happens to you, you make a conscious effort not to text or call him or to give him a blow-by-blow account of your life as it is at that moment. you may even let yourself be dragged to gimmicks that well-meaning friends have set up for you, though you are in "my life sucks & nothing can change that" mode.

after some time of pretending that you're okay, you realize that you can do without a big chunk of the pretending. surprise, surprise, you've made progress! there's significantly less pain in your chest, you feel a lot lighter, & the spring is back in your step. high five! pat on the back! *hug* your baby steps have actually brought you somewhere.

with this superb realization comes little flutters of panic. oh no, i'm actually starting to get over him! without meaning to, you find yourself singing along to lea salonga's, "let the pain remain" (on the count of three, one, two, three: let the pain remain forever in my heart / for every drop of it is one more moment spent with you / i'll let the pain / bring in all the rain / if that's the only way / if there's no other way to be with you again).

what did my friend say again? square one. back to where it all began.