You did him - and yourself! - a great service by letting him go, you know. If you'd stayed together, the restlessness that you were very much feeling once you'd been engaged for a while would have eventually taken over and ended things between the two of you in a far more unpleasant way.
It is really hard to recognise so soon after a breakup (I've recently been through a somewhat similar situation myself!), but I suspect that your history of strong friendship with Mikhail - even underneath romantic complications - will re-emerge once you've given each other some space. I'd back off for now and give it a bit of time; of course it's going to be difficult, but once it's been long enough, I think you'll be able to reconcile quite naturally as friends. A new relationship on his part will be completely different from one with you, so don't feel tempted to compare the two. Look forward to the exploration of new opportunities that you were craving once you'd cornered yourself into an engagement with Mikhail. Almost everyone has multiple partners, and again, if it didn't feel right with him then, it wouldn't've gotten any better if you'd stuck with it. I'd stay open-minded and be as patient as possible in order to maximise the chances of your friendship being entirely salvageable later on.
Don't forget that there are still a lot of us out here who really care about you. And ambivalence and confusion over your direction in life does not amount to worthlessness! Hang in there. As you say, in a few months you'll have a Cornell degree on your side for good, and that's sure to look impressive wherever you take it.
It is really hard to recognise so soon after a breakup (I've recently been through a somewhat similar situation myself!), but I suspect that your history of strong friendship with Mikhail - even underneath romantic complications - will re-emerge once you've given each other some space. I'd back off for now and give it a bit of time; of course it's going to be difficult, but once it's been long enough, I think you'll be able to reconcile quite naturally as friends. A new relationship on his part will be completely different from one with you, so don't feel tempted to compare the two. Look forward to the exploration of new opportunities that you were craving once you'd cornered yourself into an engagement with Mikhail. Almost everyone has multiple partners, and again, if it didn't feel right with him then, it wouldn't've gotten any better if you'd stuck with it. I'd stay open-minded and be as patient as possible in order to maximise the chances of your friendship being entirely salvageable later on.
Don't forget that there are still a lot of us out here who really care about you. And ambivalence and confusion over your direction in life does not amount to worthlessness! Hang in there. As you say, in a few months you'll have a Cornell degree on your side for good, and that's sure to look impressive wherever you take it.
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