On the first day of Summer Vacation, I got Dumped.

Getting dumped sucks.

And that's exactly what happened to me on the eve of my last day at Glamour. The guy I had been dating for the last few months came over and politely informed me that things between us were over. The details aren't important, and after all is said and done I agree that it wasn't right and needed to end (etc. etc.), but nevertheless the whole thing was really, really tough. 

No matter what the reasoning is, there is no easy way to hear that someone doesn't want to be with you. It makes you question everything, and shoots your confidence to absolute shit. Am I not smart enough? Not pretty enough? Too needy? Terrible in bed? Your mind whirs imagining all the things that could possibly be wrong with you, and leaves you with one overwhelming emotion: embarrassment. How mortifying is it to find out that someone you like doesn't like you back? It's like being in fourth grade all over again and finding out he checked the box that said "NO" when you passed him a "will you go out with me?" note.

When I was 14 and my first boyfriend broke up with me, I was heartbroken. To this day, I don't think I have ever been so sad. He kicked me to the curb via AIM, and showed up at school the next day with someone else. I was crushed.  My Aunt Dawn picked me up that afternoon (she found me sobbing on a corner) and in her infinite grown-up wisdom offered me a piece of advice that has stuck with me for the last ten years: "Breakups are like bikini waxes- the more you go through them, the less they hurt." I remembered this every time my high school/college boyfriend and I broke up (which was, on average, once a month), and all of the times that things haven't worked out with guys in my adult life (which has happened more often in the last two years than I would like to admit). 

With all of this experience, and a fair share grown-up wisdom of my own, I feel I need to make an addendum to my Aunt Dawn's advice: Breakups don't hurt less the more you go through them, but they do start to get easier. You learn how to effectively make yourself feel better (read: alcohol, exercise and Kelly Clarkson) and ultimately how to move on more quickly and effectively. Plus, every time it happens, you inevitably realize that while some breakups are worth crying over, most of them aren't.

And the most important thing to remember? Even Beyoncé has been dumped.