I think that a rebound relationship is like trying to jump down a flight of stairs; somebody's gonna end up hurt and with a few choice words to say.
You're trying to distract yourself from the pain of the previous relationship and forego the healing process. We try to skip that step by hopping into someone else's arms, and it just doesn't work that way!
I feel like a lot of the time, someone on the rebound is running towards someone, arms outstretched, saying "Make me feel _______"
Happy? Beauiful? Needed? Desirous? Powerful? Loved?
I think that being ready to enter a healthy relationship, you have to be able to feel okay single.
That said, I'm sure that the amount of healing time needed depends on a lot of variables, so while one person may only need a month, someone else could probably use a year or more. This is just for me, but a good sign that I'm well on the mend is when I can look back on a relationship with nothing but a vague nostalgia. No sharp pangs, no what ifs.
Chris, it's funny that you mentioned '04, that was actually the year that I was a serial rebounder.
Yeah, none of those relationships even came close to working out. I think that I knew that before I even entered into them.
You know something I learned, though? You still have to go back and put in the work on healing. I hadn't ever dealt with my heartbreak issues, and they didn't go away. They just festered, there in the dark where I'd shoved them, until I didn't even know who I was anymore. I didn't realize it at the time, but the relationship I had a year later was, in a way, a rebound.
I don't know if anyone remembers, but one of the first threads I posted here was about how I didn't understand why all of these guys popped up out of nowhere after my breakup! I would get hit on, asked out on dates and told that I was beautiful all the time in public places. I'm convinced that the Enemy wanted me right back in another dead end relationship more than anything.
BUT, I have been victorious over cute guys in Starbucks, double date invitations, random compliments, the old flame coming out of the woodwork and more. I even resisted the urge to flirt with the guy from church in his 30's who I've secretly had a crush on since I was 16.
What do I win? lol
So, yeah. I don't think that rebound relationships are ever a good idea. Not in my case, anyway. That doesn't make them any less tempting in the moment, though.