All The Feelings You'll Definitely Have After Bumping Into An Ex
Running into your ex turns your entire world into a slow-motion Instagram video you just want to speed up.
If you've ever bumped into him or her — whether it be fresh off a breakup, or months or years later — you know there is really nothing that can prepare you for how you will react.
You can prep with your best friend and go through a Rocky-style montage of the best and worst-case scenarios, but we all know the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
Even people who end on “good” terms with their exes have felt the mixture of rainbow confetti emotions we all inevitably feel seeing a person who hurt us, burned us, loved us… and maybe even saw us naked once or twice.
Here are the six emotions you experience when running into your ex:
1. Anticipation
Waiting sucks.
Whether you have the patience of a monk or a 2-year-old, knowing you're going to see your ex for a friendly hangout or a wedding can make your palms sweaty.
Maybe you're grocery shopping and caught his or her eye across the produce aisle.
You're left with the buildup of trying to predict your behavior and go through the XYZ scenarios of conversation or mild greetings you can give to be cordial... or not.
2. Nervousness
Depending on the length of time post-breakup, you may feel that uncomfortable tingling in your stomach that comes with being nervous.
It can be a good or bad nervous, or something in between.
How you broke up could come back into the forefront of your head if he or she was a jerk and did something like ending it through text or cheating.
Perhaps you're a lucky person and you ended amicably, so the nervous feeling is just having your ex up close and personal again.
3. Excitement
This is completely normal, especially if this is someone you still care about.
Some ex-couples can still keep friendly via social media or send a friendly text here and there, so maybe you haven't seen him or her in person, but you've been in contact.
Maybe you still care, so you see them and you get butterflies and you're reminded of everything good in the world.
There's nothing wrong with cracking a smile when you see your ex. Being cordial can go a long way in terms of realizing your maturity, or even accepting your ex as a friend.
4. The stomach drop
Oh, the classic feeling of nausea that follows catching a whiff of his familiar cologne or seeing him wearing your favorite shirt.
The stomach drop comes from the unexpected and not knowing how to react.
You get that feeling like someone just punched you in the gut and you've got to breathe and figure out whether to say “Hey,” or keep it moving.
This happens to the majority of people who get caught off guard, and that's OK.
It's OK to not know what to do or say.
Deep breaths, deep breaths — you will survive this.
5. "Sorry, I ain't sorry."
If you are feeling bold and confident knowing you are seeing brighter sunshine and walking over mountains, your ex doesn't faze you.
Breakups can leave us devastated, but also allow us to rise, conquer and become Beyoncé to achieve our greatness.
Seeing your ex could suck for a second, but you're not going to let it bring you down — at least not so he or she can see.
Seeing your could be the best reminder that you are not only in a better place emotionally or physically, but maybe you've moved on more than you thought (since his or her face doesn't make you scream in fury).
