Breaking up with a new or long-time girlfriend can be a tough decision. Time to man-up and take stock of your relationship and where it's headed. Find out if it's over by asking yourself the following questions.
Your quality of life has dwindled.
The good should outweigh the bad in any relationship. When love takes away more than it gives; it may be time to re-assess where you would like that relationship to go. If you feel like you are no longer a happy and confident person when you are with your girlfriend, then you are in an unhealthy relationship. Having a girlfriend is not worth sacrificing your happiness. Sometimes a guy who is very inexperienced with women or having difficulties with self-esteem issues, gets a girlfriend and wants to stay in the relationship even if the woman is a total bitch to him. If you are a man who has had a hard time playing the dating game, you might have resigned yourself to the idea that you have to settle for whoever will be with you. Wrong! You are better off alone than with someone who does not treat you with care and respect. Don't settle for someone who doesn't value you as a human being. Break it off. You deserve to be with someone who shows you the same love and kindness as you show them. If your girlfriend embarrasses you in front of your friends
by demeaning you or if she is constantly pointing out your flaws and imperfections, then you owe it to yourself to break up with her and find someone who is deserving of your love.
Are you leading her on?
Is your girlfriend falling for you but you just feel lukewarm. Like you're putting in time til something better comes along? If so, you owe it to this woman to spare her feelings and end the relationship. Women sometimes have the tendency to let themselves become attached to a man that is not attached to them. If you don't see a future with your girlfriend, then don’t have a present with her. You should never continue a romance that you are not invested in just for the physical benefits or because you need someone hanging off of you in order to validate your manliness. If you are not intending to take this relationship to the next level, and you know that the girl that you are with is already picking out the bridesmaids dresses, then you have to do the right thing and break it off. If you care about her at all, then you owe it to her not to lead her on. The only reason to continue a relationship is because you believe that there is a future in it. Dating and having flings with women with no intention of building a relationship is okay as long as all parties are aware that this is your intention. But to do it without honestly telling the person you're dating is both deceptive and manipulative.
You've realized that she can't be trusted.
Has she been unfaithful? Has she stolen money or property? Are you having a lot of trouble trusting her? If so, you need to make a clean break. Sometimes there are extenuating circumstances and you feel like you should forgive and forget. Do forgive but don't forget. Make certain that she's truly remorseful (and not just sorry that she got caught). You have to decide if you will be able to re-build the trust and faith in your relationship with her. If you are not able to trust your girlfriend, then you need to break up with her. You will become a jealous person if you stay in a relationship with someone that you do not believe in. An emotionally mature and self-confident woman will be honest with you and you will respond in kind. If your girlfriend felt she needed to stray from the relationship, then you should wonder why. Have you been unfaithful to her? Do the two of you spend as much time together as you did when you first started the relationship? She might have been looking for someone to talk to when you were emotionally unavailable, and what started off as innocent flirtation led to infidelity. People do make mistakes, but if the mistake is going to cause you to be insecure and paranoid in your relationship, then you should break it off.
You're staying because you feel guilty.
Sometimes a man will stay with a woman because he feels that it will destroy her if he ends the relationship. If you truly care about a woman, but you are no longer in love with her, then it is in both of your best interests in the long run to end the relationship. Your girlfriend does not want to be in a relationship with someone who isn't committed on an emotional level. She may be very hurt and saddened to see your relationship come to a close, but if you are not invested in this relationship, it is not going to survive. The longer that you wait to end it, the worse things will become. You can feel bad that you are breaking her heart, but you should not feel guilty for being honest about your feelings.
Break-ups are tough but honesty with your girlfriend stings a whole lot less on the receiving end than a relationship based on lies, manipulations and deception.