I had never realized that it could really happen until it happened to me, and it has been nothing short of a joyride and miracle till now. I was a firm believer of the concept that you can only fall in love once. I have now been proven wrong, and that only makes me happy! My first and only relationship till then was with a guy at work.
Due to his job, he moved to another city and that’s when things went downhill. He admitted to cheating on me, not once but twice. Of course, we broke up, and this failed relationship left me with deep wounds. In fact, I even underwent depression after this breakup. I felt lonely and turned insomniac, all of which led me to rely on antidepressants and sleeping pills. I was no longer the jovial and cheerful person that I used to be.
This was when I threw myself in my job to distract myself, and that helped a lot. In about four months, I was inching back to my normal self. I earned appreciation at work from my managers and clients. And around the same time, I started travelling, cooking and writing too. It was almost like I’d discovered a new side of myself. I had successfully fought that depression, and eventually overcame it.
Even after my recovery though, a part of me had permanently changed. I could no longer trust anyone. I could not trust my friends, my family, no one. I had built an impenetrable barrier around myself that I allowed no one to cross. I felt lonely because of it, but I reasoned that it was better to be alone than to be hurt. I had lost my faith in relationships, and certainly, in love.
One day, my bestie snatched my phone and installed a dating app on my phone so that I could explore my options and do something different! I laughed it off saying, ‘this isn’t for me.’ But she insisted I try it once. I had a couple of messages in my inbox but I didn’t reply to any of them. One evening, I matched with this one guy on the dating app. He showed up as a common contact of my ex-boyfriend’s best friend. I don’t know why I felt like pinging this person, and for the first time, I initiated conversation with him.
The next day, I got a message from him early in the morning. This is when we started talking. I actually liked talking to him, and for the first time, I exchanged numbers with an almost stranger. We chatted the entire morning, and decided to meet the same day, in the evening. Once we met, I liked him instantly! But the way I’d become, hindered me from getting closer to him or knowing him better. I didn’t let him speak and contradicted him for everything.
After this meeting, I expected him to never talk to me again, but to my surprise, he did. I came to realize that I had mistreated him. We kept talking for weeks and I realized I wanted to meet him again even though, i wasn’t sure if I could carry on the same way with him.
Gradually, the two of us grew close, and then came Valentine’s Day. He me out that day and, ever since, we’ve been dating each other. He broke all the walls that I had built around myself. I had a second chance at love and it was just meant to be!
Although it’s been four monthly only, this relationship feels right. I have started trusting and loving once again. The two things I never thought I would be capable of after my breakup. He is my confidant and someone I can truly rely on. Most importantly, he listens to me. I found a person that I love immensely through a dating app, and this was my second chance at love. All I can say is, you find love when you least expect it.
Images: Shutterstock
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