Daughter Shares The Touching Advice Her Dad Sent After He Witnessed Her Being Dumped — 'I Promise You, That Is Not Your Future'
“Rejoice in the knowledge that your life is still completely yours and you have not wasted it shackled to someone who didn’t want you.”
Halfpoint / Shutterstock.com Whether you’re 18-years-old or 70-years-old, heartbreaks never get easier. Not only are you losing a partner that you’ve dedicated time, space, and energy to, you’re losing a future that you’d envisioned together.
What does help heal the soul is loved ones to support you and share in your grief. A young woman named Fallon took to TikTok to share how her dad stepped up for her after he witnessed her being dumped on the lawn of their family home.
A young woman candidly shared the emotional advice her dad gave her after he witnessed her breakup at their home.
“You just got dumped, and your dad saw the whole thing,” Fallon wrote in text over her TikTok video. In a carousel of photos, it wasn’t passive-aggressiveness or insincere well-wishes she platformed from her father, but rather a vulnerable glimpse at his empathy as a parent.
“Hey baby girl, here’s some perspective from your old man,” he wrote. “I have had lots of relationships … from one-night stands to flings, to friends with benefits, to girlfriends, to live-in girlfriends… and then, I met your mom. I can say with certainty that when I met her, it was instantly different.”
While the majority of his text messages focused on her heartbreak and the journey to healing, there was one thing that he got right: she’s more than her love life. As he willingly wrote about his own heartbreak, as well as hers, he reminded her she’s whole without a partner. There’s more to life than situationships, romantic relationships, and dating.
Alongside stories about individuality, he shared his own struggles with heartbreak — ‘I promise you, that is not your future.
“I can say with certainty that even though I was broken up with … it was worth it,” her dad added. “Looking back, I don’t wish I could be with any of those ladies. Even though at the time I was heartbroken, it felt like I would never recover, and I was destined to be alone. I promise you, that this is not your future.”
He reminded his daughter that it’s important to feel, to hurt, and to remember all the memories the end of a relationship brings. In true monologue fashion, he continued, “Some of the best advice that I will ever give you is this …When someone lets you know that you are not for them, deal with the pain and hurt with the knowledge that this person just gave you back the most valuable thing in the world — your time.”
Of course, healing from heartbreak is much more than emotional reconciliation. Clinical social workers like Jennifer Kelman explain heartbreak can also lead to appetite changes, poor sleeping habits, and a general sense of physical unease — all of which can have more severe consequences, like heart problems, under more stressful situations.
So, while some parents simply wish their children's heartbreak away or even fail to acknowledge it altogether, this dad is present in acknowledging his daughter’s hurt. “There are cows and bulls in this life … when a bull sees a storm, they run towards it,” he wrote. “It’s terrible, but they are strong and can weather the storm.”
Fallon's dad's advice helped heal plenty of strangers as well as his daughter.
“Because they ran towards it,” her father continued of the bulls in his story, “and were able to endure it, the storm passed them quickly, and they were soon in a peaceful place. So, be the bull, lean into your storm, embrace the suck, and let it fill you up.”
It’s a reminder that so many of us need. Sometimes the only way out is through. Sometimes, it’s actually easier to feel all the emotions — good or bad — and let them fill us up until we’re ready to let go of them for good. It’s the kind of humbling reminder that evokes an emotional response, especially from the mouth of an empathetic and loving parent.
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“I’m crying as the little girl who never received these messages from her father,” one person wrote. “Your dad doesn’t even realize it, but he’s healed so many more people than he knows.”
So, if you’re dealing with heartbreak, just remember: the best is ahead of you. Focus on your happiness, deal with your emotions head-on, and give yourself grace as you “weather the storm.”
If you’re a parent, don’t forget to bring a sense of empathy to similar conversations with your kids. Think about your first love and imagine the kind of beauty a conversation like this would spark. “Be the bull!”
Zayda Slabbekoorn is a News & Entertainment Writer at YourTango who focuses on health & wellness, social policy, and human interest stories.