I've been in similar situations and it was both really hard and eventually possible to move on and continue growing and developing. There is no simple answer. W

I've been in similar situations and it was both really hard and eventually possible to move on and continue growing and developing. There is no simple answer. What is required is balancing accepting and integrating the past experience with actually moving on and doing new things. You can't have one without the other, and you can't rush things. Rather, you end up advancing one step at a time across both fronts. It often takes longer and requires more effort than you would have liked, so being ready for a long run is important. Accepting and integrating the past means approaching it neither through rumination nor through avoidance, but with as full awareness as possible and some distance and perspective. Learning whatever there is to learn. Making peace with whatever happened (and most importantly with yourself). Your past will forever be your past, you will never be able to change it, so better get comfortable with that. Doing new things, living a new life, that's easier said than done, but can also be fun and empowering when you're ready. As the saying goes, today is the first day of the rest of your life. Exciting! But to avoid "contaminating" your future with your past, you really need to also accept and integrate that past. If you don't, the choices you make and patterns you establish might be dominated by that past experience. Some people can do this all by themselves. Many don't. If you're not sure, assume that you are one of those people who can benefit from getting help and support from a qualified professional. Many people who did will report that this is one of the best investments they made in their lifetime.