Here’s why your ex has moved on while you’re still in pain from the breakup

“The partner who initiated the end of a relationship typically experiences a breakup as a kind of relief,” Jack says. "For the other partner, however, they’re thrown into a roller coaster of grief after the breakup," says family mediator Jack Ellis.

The family mediator advises that if you’re the one who initiated the breakup, show compassion and understanding, as conflict can be decreased by understanding that you’re both at different stages in the cycle of grief. The more compassionate and understanding you can be, the quicker both of you will be able to move on.