You and your boyfriend recently broke up. You are feeling incredibly sad, alone and dejected. You really miss your ex and you want to reunite with him. You genuinely love him and were hoping to marry him someday.

Consider the following strategies for helping you reconcile your romantic relationship with your ex.

(1) As you spend time apart, reflect on your relationship and the problems that you two encountered. What were his concerns about you? What worried or upset him about your behavior and interaction? Take time for serious self-examination. Think about the complaints your ex had about your behavior. If you recognize a concern of his to be legitimate and reasonable, then work to changing that particular behavior or element of your personality. Only make changes that will make you a happier, healthier person. Avoid making changes simply to appease your ex and get him back.

(2) Focus on developing your personal strengths and talents. Reflect on your special traits that originally attracted your ex to you in the beginning. You remember him being attracted by your intelligence. Work on developing your intelligence by taking an interesting and challenging university or college course in a subject you like. You remember your ex appreciating your wonderful sense of humor. Work on regaining your sense of humor. Take time to relax and look for the funny side of situations. Try to learn to laugh at yourself and not take life too seriously.

(3) Be supportive and caring to your ex. Show your ex that you still care about him and think about him fondly. Offer your friendship to him. Discipline yourself to restrict the time you spend taking with him or emailing him, though. Show him that you are establishing healthy emotional boundaries. Create a healthy distance between the two of you. Hopefully you ex will miss your companionship and love and return to you.

(4) Think positively. It is understandable that you feel depressed and negative after the end of your relationship. Nurture yourself. Allow yourself time to grief and work through your feelings of hurt, anger and denial. However, avoid speaking negatively about your ex to your friends and mutual acquaintances. Challenge yourself to think positive, uplifting thoughts about yourself and your potential. Think about the positive aspects of your relationship with your ex. If you feel that the good outweighed the bad, then be patient as you wait for your ex to come around. Try to surround yourself with positive and motivational people as you spend time apart.