Theory of Rebound:

The only truth behind a rebound is that nothing is real. It is like the rickety bridge that serves as the only path from Broken Heart Land to Firm Ground Land. People with broken hearts or breaking relationships turn to the first person they find interesting or to the first person who shares a similar story of life. Obviously the attraction is so high that something has to be done real fast about it.

I am going to call the one with the broken relationship, a reboundee and the one in the rebound trap, the rebounded. Everything that the rebounded says seems perfectly right and every theory of theirs seems like the truth of the universe. The places they love are suddenly the only places on the map of the world, the food that they like is the only palatable food right now and suddenly the ex becomes the bad one.

The alarm bells have to start ringing when everything the ex did not do is right in front and is offered on a silver platter. Money becomes a cheap commodity and meeting the rebounded seems like the only priority ever. The world sees the reboundee as the broken one who can’t focus on work but in reality they are just too occupied with the new development in their love life.

Rose tinted glasses are exactly what the reboundee wears to see through this phase. Long chats, longer phone calls and the longest nights in life are characteristic of a rebound relationship. Plans for the future and the thought of meeting the parents seem less perturbing. It is almost suicidal to do any of those two things because those are the things that cement relationships. Naming kids, deciding marriage venues and making out like animals are all legally allowed elements of rebounds, but making love is not…especially if it’s the first time for either one of the two or both.

A typical rebound lasts around 3-6 months on an average unless the chemistry is just so fantastic that the dead love matters no more. At the end of the rebound relationship the rebounded feels used, cheap and wronged, while the reboundee is down trodden destroyed because of lack of confidence in relationships and guilt for losing track of the values and principles that were very well defined before the rebound.

On the brighter side, there is no moving on without this bad rebound phase! It is always better to rebound and get done with the sulking phase than linger in limbo and not let love take its course.