My friend Paul is a new guest blogger. He’s 28 and hasn’t been married, but it’s not because he hasn’t tried. He once owned a speed dating business and hosts some killer parties. Paul is a marketer and is easy going and fun to talk to. I worked with him a few years ago and we’ve been friends ever since.

You can tell a little about Paul from this picture. It was  taken after he went skydiving. Being afraid of heights myself, I have to admire the guts. He’s smiling!
Here’s Paul’s take on breaking up, Part One:

In my experiences dating I’ve found myself, and those who have broken up with me, struggle between the balance of nice but firm. I sincerely believe that it is possible to have a break-up in which both involved parties leave with better feelings then when they began. So below are a few tips that have both helped me terminate and be terminated:

Communicate - The first girl I dated after I returned from my mission, Michelle, helped me discover my greatest frustration when it comes to breaking up—not being open with how you really feel.

We had only been dating a short time when she had decided to break it off. The only notion I had that she was done with me was that she stopped conveying her feelings.

She had decided that it was easier to let me guess why she didn’t want to continue dating than to just tell me. This happened almost eight years ago and I still don’t know why she ended it, I just know that she did.

In dating and in breaking up being open with how you feel is the best way. Relationship skills like being able to express feelings are vital to good relationships. In part two I’ll talk about the process of breaking up.