It is a personal decision whether or not it is a good idea to be friends with an ex. It is up you whether or not you can be friends with your ex or not. Staying friends after a break up is believed to be a sign of maturity.
Though this can be true, being friends is not always a good idea because it can be too painful. There is no specific right way to do this but that's just part of life. There are cases when the breakup was clean and the decision may have been made that you would not be friends. In this case, honor what you have decided and move on.
Who you are as a person is one of the biggest factors in deciding whether you should be friends with an ex.
Keeping a friendship is not a good idea if you are someone who is prone to jealousy. Chances are, when your ex decides to be with someone else, you will be extremely jealous and try to sabotage their relationship.
It is a bad idea if an intention of staying broken up and romantic feelings towards each other still exist.
You might break up again several weeks or months after getting back together (probably for the same reasons that you broke up originally).
Every time you go to places where the two of you used to go, it is okay to have fond memories. You should probably not be friends, however, if these memories turn into thoughts of wanting to hook back up with your ex.
So, how do you find out when you are ready to be friends with an ex?
The first thing to do is to think about how long it has been since the break up. You are probably ready if it has been long enough that you can honestly say that you wouldn't mind if you ex hooked up with someone else.
You're maybe ready to be friends with you ex if you honestly don't want to be with your ex romantically but you're still wanting friendship, then you're maybe ready to be friends with your ex. Any relationship that has ended has certain boundaries to follow.
Being friends with an ex is like walking on a tight rope with certain topics and actions to avoid. Such topics are sex life or past emotionally-charged disagreements.
When being friends with an ex, use sensitivity and common sense. Consider how you would want to be treated. For a while, it is normally going to be different from all of your other friendships. Talk about casual topics instead of your love life.
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