The moment you know a relationship is over...

You know it is time to pull the plug on a relationship when you've done everything conceivable to make your partner happy, but they fail to recognize your efforts and refuse to do their fair share.

You've done everything imaginable to make the relationship work, but he or she continues to cheat, be lazy, take you for granted, or give you the cold shoulder.

It's at this point you no longer feel guilty about walking away. In fact, doing so makes you feel liberated because it means you can finally pursue a relationship with someone who will invest the time and energy you do.

A relationship that weighs you down -- one that leaves you feeling more dead than alive at the end of the day -- is no relationship at all. Rather, it is more like an albatross over your head that is inhibiting your growth.

A good partner enhances our lives with traits that we may lack or that complement our own -- whether it's a great sense of humor, a flair for adventure, or a love of the arts.

But if you find yourself bickering with your partner over matters big and all -- from choosing where to eat for dinner to deciding how many kids you'd like to have together, if any -- it may mean that the two of you are less compatible than you thought.

It isn't fair for you to be the only one pulling their weight. It takes two people to keep a relationship strong. Both of you give; both of you receive. Both of you make sacrifices for one another. You're each there when the other needs you, even if it may serve as an inconvenience at times.

Once you lose trust in the other person, you slowly become resentful of them. You no longer feel attracted to them. You lose respect for them. It's a gradual domino effect that causes the relationship to crash and burn.

If in your heart you know the relationship is dead -- and you've done all you can to infuse life into it, to no avail -- it's time to move on. Waiting for your partner to change is a fruitless exercise.

And once you do walk away, that's when your partner might pledge to clean up their act. As the saying goes, "Fool me once -- shame on you. Fool me twice -- shame on me."

Life is too short to be stuck in an unfulfilling relationship. In the end, it's better to be single than in bad company so that when the right person does come around, you'll be ready.

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