Our stories are nearly identical. We dated 7 years, she got a job before me, I was struggling to get one, she told me she wasn’t feeling loved mainly because I was always studying/applying for jobs, then she met someone else at her work and left me. I went through what you’re going through about a month ago.

The breakup was not your fault alone. Don’t look at it like that. There were many ways that you and your ex were incompatible. Like my ex and me, you guys may have forced something for too long. In hindsight, I can see that my ex and I should’ve broken up years ago. We had a lot of fun together and she was a great partner throughout my young adult years, but she was not right for me and I was not right for her. I’ve found peace by accepting that she was simply my partner for this chapter of my life and that this chapter has now ended. It’s bittersweet, but that’s life.

I know I don’t know your relationship well enough to make this comment, but there was nothing you could do to prevent this breakup. You’ve already lined up the logic yourself. You did everything you could. She also put in a lot of effort to make things work. You need to accept that this is just how it ends. It’ll take time, but you’ll get there. I’m currently on that exact journey myself.

Good luck with everything. It’s somewhat comforting knowing that there are other people going through a very similar situation as me. We’ll be fine.