Breaking up is hard to do, and surviving a breakup can be even harder. You may feel angry, sad, hurt... the next little while may take a lot of strength on your part. It may seem like a lot to handle, especially with this big hole in your life, but you're not the first couple to break up, and you won't be the last, so you can be pretty sure that both you and your ex will survive and move on with your lives.

Here are some tips that can help you survive the period immediately after the breakup:

First, don't try to "stuff" the pain; you can't hold it in forever, and the longer you try, the worse it's going to hurt. Breaking up is emotionally a lot like the death of a loved one; you should know that you're going to hurt, and that it's okay to break down a little and cry if you have to.

It may help to express the pain (or anger) in a physical way: go to the gym and pound a punching bag (or stay home and punch your pillow), go out in the woods and scream at the top of your lungs (or stay home and scream into your pillow), or take a long run, or a bike ride (but not on your pillow).

It may also help to express the pain verbally: write a long letter to your ex-partner, expressing your hurt, your pain, and your anger. Hold nothing back. Let it all out. Tell them exactly what you think of them and what they did to you.

Then tear the letter up, or better yet, burn it. (Don't bother sending the letter to them, because it's not about them; it's about you getting over them and dealing with the pain of the breakup.)

Then, once you've calmed down a bit, you'll be in a position to evaluate things and try to figure out where you and your partner actually stand in the relationship. Knowing where you stand will allow you to make the right decisions. If you decide that the relationship is truly over, you and your ex will need to come to terms with that.

One thing you'll need to do is to start disentangling your lives. If you live together, you'll need to divide your stuff, figure out who's going to move (and maybe that's both of you), and make new living arrangements. If you live separately, you'll need to collect the stuff you've left at each other's places.

This division of property, and the separation that goes along with it, helps to ensure that nothing is left as an emotional landmine that you'll trip over later on in an unguarded moment (i.e., when you see his toothbrush, or her pantyhose).

Once you've divided your property and moved to your separate spaces, you should go through some sort of finalizing ritual: this is a symbolic event that involves letting an image of your ex go, whether by destroying it, throwing it away, or some other act that communicates to your subconscious a sense of finality. You could burn one of their letters, tear up a picture, or delete their emails from your computer. Whatever gives you a sense of closure.

At this point, family, friends, and even your coworkers can provide an emotional support network for you; you should lean on them as much as you can (or as much as you have to). Even though you've done all that you can to soften the blow of the breakup, you'll still face some challenges, and having that emotional support will help you deal with surviving it and moving on.