"If you've been together for 1 1/2 years, then they have probably been thinking about breaking up with you for about 6 months or so before that."

Ok, so...

Think about your last break-up? I know you remember it. Was it absolutely miserable? Did you do the dumping? Did you get dumped? Was it your heart that got broken, or the other persons? Regardless of how your last break-up went, what I'm about to bring up right now applies. When you guys broke up, how long were you (or they) thinking about doing it before it actually got done? Think about this honestly. It is incredibly rare that anyone would just decide out of nowhere that they are going to break-up with someone else. It's usually an extended and laborious process of weighing the pros and cons of the relationship...even though the cons obviously already outweigh the pros, otherwise you wouldn't be weighing things in the first place...but I digress. My point is that when a couple breaks up, most of the time someone gets hurt and therefore sits there begging the other person not to go through with it, or to change their mind and take them back. But why do we beg? Why bother trying to convince them that they should stay with you? They've already made that decision. If you've been together for 1 1/2 years, then they have probably been thinking about breaking up with you for about 6 months or so before that. It's not like it was a decision that was made in haste. Even if they aren't going to miss you, they are probably going to still miss the comfort of the relationship (otherwise, there really is no reason left to be there), and that is what keeps them holding on.  So really, you should have been on a reconnaissance mission long before the actual break-up came along in order to have any chance of saving it, but of course, when the problems started, it wasn't like you were aware that anything was really wrong...that's something you don't figure out until after the fact - "Okay, yeah. Maybe things weren't the same anymore. Maybe we weren't really having sex much. Maybe he wasn't really very affectionate with me anymore."...You always figure it out later. That's the way she blows.

The funny thing is, it doesn't even matter that I've called us all out on this. We will all continue to do it, because when your heart gets broken, you would do anything to unbreak it...It literally is one of the worst feelings in the world. Right now, I am extremely happy in my relationship, but you will be the first to know if I slip into "take me back" land.

Sounding a little pessimistic?

 - Jenn