If you’ve ever loved someone passionately and they didn’t love you back, you understand the pain of learning how to get out of a toxic relationship that’s not working for you. So, how can you get past this and move on with your life?

Letting go of toxic love is hard. It’s easier to hold on to the good times, even if they are short-lived. Love can seem magnetic when it’s toxic for you and can leave you grasping for more.

You can get stuck in denial when you think this is true love when the relationship becomes unhealthy for you.

You can end up stuck in a destructive situation, especially if you ignore the signs of a toxic relationship with someone who doesn’t healthily love you.

It’s devastating to realize that the person you love doesn’t love you. Therefore, you may feel more comfortable holding on to your hopes and dreams about the relationship.

Related: 7 Things You Realize After Being In A Toxic Relationship

Wanting something more and holding on to hope can keep you stuck in toxic, unhealthy relationships because you haven’t accepted the truth to allow yourself to let go of your unrequited love.

Sometimes, your hopes and dreams may lead you to believe what you want, instead of seeing the truth.

To get rid of a toxic person, you must accept the actual truth – that you love someone who doesn’t love you back, so you can move on with your life.

If the person you love doesn’t love you or doesn’t feel anything for you, then it’s time to let go of him because relationship problems will soon become devastating for you.

You can be flogging a dead horse, by putting effort into a dead-end relationship when feelings aren’t reciprocated.

Subconsciously, you may find it difficult to give up a one-sided relationship to avoid feeling lonely or unwanted.

You may remain stuck in a dead relationship as a way to regain the love you longed for as a child.

The antidote to toxic love is to release these feelings, undo past patterns, and not hold on to false hope about the relationship.

Loving someone who doesn’t love you back becomes a toxic relationship, which is why you must leave it to heal yourself and move forward. It lowers your self-esteem when you look to the other person to feel loved.

You won’t move forward in your life when you stay stuck in a toxic relationship. You can’t give up on someone who can’t love you for who you are when you’re trying to make them love you.

It’s time to learn how to let go of someone who isn’t yours anyway. You will be worse off when your needs are not met.

Here are the 14 steps you need to take to leave your toxic relationship so you can move forward with your life.

1. Acknowledge the truth and stop ignoring the warning signs

If the signs are clear, don’t waste any more time on someone who is not ready for you or who is abusing you.

Acknowledge the fact that the relationship is not good for you. Don’t let your hopes and dreams stop you from seeing the truth.

2. Decide to let go and stop contact

It makes it easier to move forward if you’re not seeing their social media feeds or hearing from them, so you don’t hold back. It can bring you back to hope for something that doesn’t exist.

Having constant reminders about your ex can hold you back in the past, preventing you from moving forward with your life.

Seeing them on social media can make you feel bad. If you see them moving forward with someone else, it may hold you back from building your self-confidence and prevent you from moving forward on your own.

3. Stop reliving the good times

You may end up going back in time by reminding yourself of memories together and re-living your hopes or dreams with them.

Control the temptation to cling to your ex by not being lulled into a false hope of ridding yourself of loneliness.

4. Feel the pain and loss

Allow yourself to sit with your feelings and acknowledge them, so you can naturally allow yourself to grieve and let go.

Denying your feelings of loss can prevent you from moving on, by holding on to your ex.

5. Don’t fall into the trap of blaming yourself or wallowing in self-pity

You may be thinking to yourself: “What’s wrong with me? Wasn’t I good enough?”

Instead of beating yourself up for your role in any mistakes, learn from the role you played in the relationship, so you can heal your actual “self” to break the cycle of repetitive patterns.

6. Letting go means breaking up with your past

Sometimes letting go of your ex requires breaking up with your past patterns to effectively break the cycle

Work on overcoming the loss and underlying emotions to undo past patterns so they do not repeat themselves.

7. Control the temptation to return or message your ex

Take your focus off your ex with healthy distractions. Try exercising or visiting a friend you haven’t seen in a while.

Remind yourself how destructive it is to cling to a dead-end relationship that leads nowhere. Tell yourself what you’ll miss if you go back.

8. Remind yourself of wins instead of losses

When you find yourself looking back at the relationship, remind yourself how damaging it is to hold on to a toxic relationship, and how it prevents you from moving forward with your life and finding true love.

9. Focus on yourself

Connect with “yourself” by exploring your goals, outlets, friends, and endeavors.

Make “yourself” the focal point of your happiness, not the relationship.

Rebuild a life for yourself, instead of making your happiness depend on a relationship that gives you nothing. Build a stronger platform for yourself, instead of putting your self-worth in the hands of others.

10. Give yourself the natural space and time to let go

Give yourself time to process your feelings and think about your relationship.

Heal and learn from it, so you don’t repeat the pattern.

11. Avoid escaping pain with impulsive behaviors

Be careful about seeking immediate relief — such as drinking or moving on to new partners too quickly — to avoid your feelings.

It is not healthy to jump straight into another relationship to escape feelings of abandonment. Avoid texting when drunk to fill the empty void of loneliness.

You may act to rid yourself of your feelings, which can keep you stuck in sadness and hold you back even more.