Dear Maura: How can I get over break-up?

Dear Maura: How do you get past a cancelled wedding that was meant to make my life the happiest it could be? My ex and I were together since fifth year in school — that’s 10 years of our lives. We had it all planned and then something happened one evening a few weeks before the big day and there was this total realisation that we shouldn’t get married. I know it was the right decision. But it’s so sad as for all those years we believed we were going to live happily ever after. We don’t know what changed or how we came to this. We seemed to be happy; there was never a sense that either of us was getting fed up of the relationship. Maybe there were some issues but that was something we believed all couples, and friends for that matter, deal with. I feel it’s difficult to move on having had so many expectations with one person for so long. Now, I second guess myself if I meet someone, picturing us in a few years’ time or else thinking this is going nowhere. After everything that’s happened to me, I feel that no matter what I or anyone does, there are no guarantees. Answer: Give yourself time to work through the loss and disappointment of your relationship and wedding day. Your journey to where you are now has been so fast, the ending so abrupt that you are trying in the most basic sense to work out what exactly has happened. Be kind to yourself, talk to family, friends, people you feel will really listen and support you as you work through everything. You both made the right decision but it is still a shock. Sometimes we settle into a routine and get on with life.