20 Times Beyoncé Helped You Get Through a Breakup

NEW YORK, NY – AUGUST 28: Beyonce performs onstage during the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on August 28, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Larry Busacca/MTV1617/Getty Images for MTV)

18. “Poison”

"It’s so unfair That I find myself right back in your care And what’s good is that when you’re not always there You know that for my health You’re just like poison"

Sometimes breakups aren’t as final as we’d like them to be, or as they should be. A lot of us have that oft-romanticized “one who got away,” although nine times out of ten they were never interested in the first place. Ah, well. Point is, plenty of us get caught up in these recurring trysts that would be better left untapped, if only we could resist.

When it comes down to the nitty-gritty of most of these situations, at least one party knows that the relationship is doing more harm than good. Maybe the balance of affection is way off. Maybe you don’t want the same things. Maybe one of you has misread the situation and the other is either clueless or too careless to address it (been there, done that, do not recommend). Whatever the case may be, for one of you, the relationship isn’t the emotionally fulfilling experience it should be. On some level, both parties know it’s not happening, and yet it keeps happening.

As usual, Beyoncé nails the issue on its head: This liaison is a drain, and the first step to stopping it is to acknowledge that it’s clogged. You don’t have to do it for the other person, but for yourself. You matter more than what you think this relationship is giving you—because, as it happens, it’s not giving you anything at all.

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