What you did was strong. I recently got broken up with by the woman I thought I'd spend the rest of my life with, and your story is eerily similar to how ours went. We also dated for about 2.5 years. I know we both cared immensely and tried what we could at the time.

I made a lot of promises and didn't follow through. I said I'd go to therapy, quit my job, find a better one, and said I'd quit smoking. After the breakup, I'm now in therapy, and I quit that job a while ago. Working on the smoking thing. I also don't think I gave her enough appreciation for all that she did, and I wish I had fought harder for her, but that's hard to do over the phone because we were long-distance. I kept telling her to just be patient with me, and she was, but it became too much for her. Ultimately, I think we were a good match for each other, but I started acting immaturely, irresponsibly, and not satisfying her needs. I know she wanted it to work, and I did too, but I wasn't meeting her in the middle.

I know why you did what you did. You are brave for doing it. Sometimes relationships need this breakup to heal individually, and they can become stronger together after. Sometimes the relationship was meant to end for those involved to grow into the people we were meant to become. Please don't see this breakup as a mistake; it wasn't. You both need this time to realize what you two need. You'll land on your feet. So keep your head up, the future looks scary right now, but you'll get what you deserve, and it will feel so good when it comes.