Signs Your Ex Doesn’t Want You To Move On

Sometimes, you break up with someone and your ex seems to always be around, still. It's like, you're not in a relationship anymore, but it still kind of feels like more than friends, but you know you aren't? It's a strange dynamic that is really difficult to vibe with sometimes.

There Is Already Trouble Keeping An Ex In Your Life

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Photo Credit: Pexels / cottonbro

It's already a real gamble to keep an ex in your life. It's not always the most healthy decision for the two of you, especially if you're trying to work out what your lives are going to be like now that you're apart.

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You Have To Decide If That's Even A Good Idea

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Photo Credit: Pexels / Agafonova Photo
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You have to ask yourself if you're going to be able to make informed decisions about their role in your life if you're both still a big part of one another's lives. It's hard to let go of someone, but sometimes holding on ends up being harder.

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So, Why Could He Be Sticking Around?

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Photo Credit: Pexels / Diva Plavalaguna
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If you have an ex who is sticking around even though you've kind of hinted that you need your space, there could be some reasons that they're being upfront with or not, but what you do know is that they're making it hard for you to move on.

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So what are some of these things that they do that are signs they don't want you moving on yet?

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He Didn't Want To Break Up In The First Place

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Photo Credit: Pexels / Garon Piceli
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An obvious sign is that he wasn't thrilled about the breakup to begin with. If he doesn't want to move on, he's going to do everything he can to stop you from moving on, too.

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You've Heard That He Lies About How Your Relationship Ended

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Photo Credit: Pexels / Elle Hughes
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You've heard through the grapevine that he's lying to people about how your relationship ended. To you, it might have been final, and you broke up with him, but he's telling people the exact opposite. Apparently, you're on a break and he initiated it.

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He Tries To Get Your Attention

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Photo Credit: Pexels / Startup Sock Photos
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Maybe he's trying to get your attention in subtle ways like posting things on Facebook he knows you'll like or will rub you the wrong way, and he's showing up places he knows you're going to be.

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He's Constantly Asking If You're Seeing Anyone

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Photo Credit: Pexels / cottonbro
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When the two of you do talk, he's always asking you if you're seeing anyone and how dating is going. It seems like it's friendly, but it's more of him prying.

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He's Always Messaging You

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Photo Credit: Pexels / Do The Lan
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He's texting you nonstop like nothing has changed. It might seem nice at first to not have much of a change, but remember that you're broken up now, and this could be him trying to keep you close.

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He's Trying To Be Friends With The New Person You're With

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Photo Credit: Pexels / Tima Miroshnichenko
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If he's really feeling crazy, then there is a good chance he's going to start pressuring you into introducing the new person you've been dating to them and say that he wants to be friends with him. Keep your enemies close, right?

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He's Asking Your Friends About You

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Photo Credit: Pexels / Lisa Fotios
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Your friends are telling you all the time that he's constantly asking about you to the point that he wasn't even being sneaky and subtle about it anymore. It's just shameless.

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He Rebounded Way Too Quickly

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Photo Credit: Pexels / Tan Danh
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Maybe he started dating someone right away—suspiciously soon—and he wants you to know all about it. That seems a little suspicious, doesn't it? If you feel like something isn't right, then you're probably right.

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He Still Has All The Photos Of You On His Social Media

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Photo Credit: Pexels / Tracy Le Blanc
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Guys are weird about their social media. They don't always do the huge purge like we do after a breakup. That being said, if his profile looks like nothing has changed, he's probably thinking that the breakup is temporary.

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So What Can You Do If You Don't Want Him Around?

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Photo Credit: Pexels / Chait Goli
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So what is it that you can do if you don't want him around but he's still trying to stop you from moving on? There are ways that you can take your power back in the situation.

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First And Foremost, Put Your Foot Down And Tell Him To Get Lost

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Photo Credit: Pexels / Sofia Alejandra
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The first thing that you need to do is put your foot down and tell them to back off. You need your space and the proper, loving, respectful thing for them to do is to give it to you.

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Don't Be Afraid To Block His Number

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Photo Credit: Pexels / Andrea Piacquadio
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If you feel you need your space and he's not giving it to you, don't be afraid to block his number, block him on social media, and keep him from blowing up your phone.

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Set Boundries And Be Consistent

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Photo Credit: Pexels / Anastasiya Lobanovskaya
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If you think that you do want them in your life, sit them down and tell them what your boundaries are, and explain to them that if they want to be in your life they need to respect them.

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Think Seriously, Do You Want To Get Back Together?

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Photo Credit: Pexels / GUIVERG
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Maybe you're feeling like you might want to get back together and you're getting that vibe from him, too. Really think about if that's a good idea before you go down that road, or if it's just the fact that you're still close to one another making you consider it.

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If You Do, You Have To Have Some Serious Talks About It

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Photo Credit: Pexels / Samson Katt
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If you are feeling like you want to get back together, make sure you both talk about the reasons why you broke up, because those were real and might still need addressing.

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At The End Of The Day, You Don't Owe Them Anything

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Photo Credit: Pexels / Myicahel Tamburini
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No matter what happens, know that if you made a clean break from someone, you don't owe them anything, and you need to do what you need to do to move on.

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He Will Move On Eventually

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Photo Credit: Pexels / Jefferson Palomique
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He will eventually move on, especially if you cut off all contact. You weren't right for each other, or it isn't the right time, and it's as simple as that.