.

What is a rebound relationship and does it have any chance of being successful?

What most people mean when they use the term rebound relationship is that someone has entered into a new relationship very quickly after a previous relationship has ended.

The inference is that the person has really only started the new relationship because they are desperately lonely, want to make their ex partner jealous, or show their ex that they cared so little about the previous relationship that they can easily walk away and start afresh.

If any of the above are the real reason you have begun a new relationship, then the chances that it will be a successful relationship are not high.

Perhaps the most important issue to be clear of, for both partners entering into a rebound relationship, is the real motivation for the new relationship.

Loneliness and the need to be socializing are not necessarily bad reasons for finding a new relationship. If a previous relationship is really over, it is a healthy thing to move on rather than become depressed and isolated.

What you do need to realize is that relationships don’t usually just suddenly end. It is usually a process of becoming distant from each other. So what seems to be a rebound straight into a new relationship may not be quite as dramatic as it sounds. The former relationship may have in fact been ended some time ago but the actual formal split was only recently.

Both parties do need to understand that any relationship that ends for whatever reason does leave hurt feelings, sadness and regret. No matter how good or bad a relationship is, there are always at some level memories, both good and bad, that cannot just be ignored.The fact is the relationship did exist and now it doesn’t.

It is important for both parties in the new relationship to fully understand what happened to the previous one. Being honest and open about this is one of the factors that can allow the rebound relationship to succeed. It can be hard to talk about previous relationships but the more a new partner can know and understand, the less chance there is of them beginning to feel threatened by or compared to the old relationship.

It can be awkward especially if both new partners move in the same social circle. Former friends can take sides when a relationship splits and sometimes this can be very damaging to the new relationship. Here is where real honesty and openness can protect the new partner from misunderstanding or malicious gossip.

The very fact that the two new partners are sharing and dealing with the past history can in fact strengthen their new relationship. So sometimes if you have actually met a real soul mate, the fact that it is a rebound relationship can draw you even closer together.

The most important thing in a rebound relationship, as in any new relationship, is not to rush into it for the wrong reasons. You need to really get to know and understand each other’s past, feelings, hopes and desires. You need to be open and honest and be prepared to accept each other for who you are now and what your past has been. Then it is time to develop the new relationship and start a new beginning together.