I am a woman in my early 30s, and my seven-year relationship ended six months ago. I cared very deeply for my ex and thought that we had marriage in our future. He stuck with me through many difficult times in my life and in developing my career, including moving across the country twice for my jobs. However, we increasingly seemed to be on divergent paths in life, and when I brought up the question of our future, he decided that we should go our separate ways. Since that time, I have attempted to reconcile with him several times, to no avail. In fact, he has been very distant and at times insensitive and mean toward me, despite the fact that we decided we would work hard at remaining friends due to our mutual love for each other.

Thinking logically, I know that the smartest thing for me to do is to move on with my life and seek out a new relationship. However, I find myself paralyzed by fear of moving on. I find myself thinking that if I move on it means that our relationship is truly over (which I know it is). I have an opportunity to date someone new who has many things in common with me and seems at face value to be a good “match.” I can feel myself withdrawing from this opportunity despite the fact that I know I need to approach this wholeheartedly with a good attitude.

Does anyone have any advice for how I can move past this fear of letting go of my old relationship and allowing myself to approach this new potential relationship with an open heart and mind? Thank you for any help you can offer.