Hey all. I'm brand spanking new to RPW. I just came out of a 5 year relationship with a really great guy. We met very young and we're very happy for the longest time. This year we're both coming to the end of fairly long degrees. My priorities were a mess, I thought we could do long distance if I got a job in another state (job market is not brilliant ) . After that our relationship began to fall apart. He went on a holiday and came back talking about how he'd missed out on so much of life, how much he loved me and how correct we were for each other but not right now. He said he wished we'd met later so that he could get other stuff out of his system. He just wanted to be free from commitment (suddenly ).

We ended it mutually because I didn't want to be the reason for his unhappiness. This was my first relationship and looking back I made tons of mistakes. The problem is we're both still very much in love and this trying to be friends thing is not working out at all. The feelings are still there but we were just not on the same page.

He says he still loves me but we're both trying to move on. I decided yesterday that we need to stop seeing each other because it hurts a little too much.

I've also decided I am going to stay single for a while and improve myself. Right now I'm on a bit of an emotional roller coaster, I've already improved my appearance, Reduced my drinking, I always worked out anyways but want to ramp that up. I want to become a better woman. I just need a bit of guidance on where to start while still focusing on my career for now.

I want to avoid the CC and even dating for now. I've list a lot of faith in myselfand the idea of relationships in general and don't want to fall for any of the insecurity traps.

Also do you guys think it's better to be alone than be with a subpar or wrong guy?

Tldr; Broke up. Want to be a better woman. Any help would be much appreciated <3