7 Reasons Why You Should Be Friends with Your Ex ...

7 Unfinished Business

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Have you ever had a break-up occur right before a big event and now you don't have a date for this occasion? If you're still friends with your ex, then you won't have to worry about being dateless. This will also cause less commotion at the event as well, since you will still be showing up with the same person everyone is expecting to see you with. Maybe you had some big project at work or school and your ex is your partner in this project. Being friends will make the entire experience go much smoother.

6 Less Stress

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Being friends with someone is a lot less stressful than being enemies. You don't have to call your ex all the time and check to see how things are going, but at least act polite towards your ex, especially when in public. It's much nicer to see an ex and be able to smile than it is to have to run the other way or duck behind the potted plant in the corner.

5 You Work Together

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It's hard enough to be dating or married to someone whom you work with, let alone try to be around them once you are no longer together. Maintaining a friendship with an ex can make things at work a lot less stressful and less awkward too. It's easier to still work with an ex if you are on good terms with one another. This doesn't mean you have to have lunch together or anything like that, but it does mean you should be civil towards one another.

4 Get to Know Them as a Person

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I think some relationships are jumped into awfully quickly. This can cause two people to not even know each other very well before they decide they don't like each other. If you are able to get to know your ex as a friend, chances are you might actually like who this person is. I'm not saying that you should expect to become friends and then get back together. I just think that sometimes people actually make better friends than they do boyfriend and girlfriend.

3 You Have Mutual Friends

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If you share friends with an ex, you can't necessarily expect these friends to pick one of you over the other. First of all, that isn't a very nice situation to put your friends in and secondly, there's no reason for them to have to choose sides. Also, if you both share friends and end up at the same party together, then as long as you and your ex are also friends, things shouldn't get weird in public. Everyone can then hang out together and have a great time.

2 It Shows You Are Mature

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A sign of being an adult is usually maturity. I have a couple of friends who always fight like they are two little kids. They end up arguing and playing that he-said/she-said game, which I find very juvenile. The friends that I have who are able to be friends with an ex are able to rationalize situations and find the good in everything. They may not always be extremely optimistic, but they definitely try giving others the benefit of the doubt.

1 You Have Children Together

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There are always exceptions, but I feel that having children together requires a friendship to be in place with an ex. Even if you two can't be civilized towards each other when you're alone, at least try to do so for your children's sake. Showing them that two adults can function as friends, even after being more than just friends, is much healthier for the children.

I know that most of my friends have had a bad experience with an ex, which is why they became the ex in the first place. These 7 reasons why you should be friends with your ex are ones that I’ve thought of, but aren’t the only ones out there I’m sure. Do you have another reason that you remain friends with your ex? Do you find remaining friends is hard or easy?

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