Think aloud
Let’s be honest; your ex won’t openly admit that he regrets hurting you but the chances are he’ll shower you with many signs that can easily give him away.
We all want to know what happens in the mind of the other person after a breakup.
Has your ex moved on or is he still clinging to the old memories from the past?
Sometimes, you want to know that for your own good and in order to get closure.
Other times, it’s because you want to be sure of any chances of getting back together.
You wonder whether the breakup was the right call and you want to know how your ex feels about it. We could call it human curiosity!
When you keep thinking about whether your ex regrets hurting you, it doesn’t mean that you’ll run into his arms the first time he gives you a sign that he wants you back.
You simply want to find peace within and sometimes knowing what your ex actually feels about your breakup can help.
So, if you recently went through a breakup and you’re thinking about your ex and whether he regrets hurting you, then look for the signs below.
Even if he doesn’t say it out loud, his actions will reveal his real feelings to you.
Before we start looking at the signs he regrets hurting you, I want to let you know that most guys usually act all tough after a breakup.
They don’t want their ex to see that they’re suffering, so they act as if nothing ever happened.
But sooner or later, all those memories from the past will hit him, and he’ll have no idea how to cope with them.
He’ll realize that he regrets hurting you and that’s when he’ll start acting all weird.
You’ll see it in his eyes that things aren’t as good as he wants them to look.
Signs he regrets hurting you (and maybe he’s even thinking about getting back together)!
It would be easier for everyone if men would openly talk about their feelings.
When you feel that something’s wrong, you would simply share it with the other person.
Unfortunately, we know that things don’t work that way.
Instead of hearing from his mouth that he regrets hurting you, you’ll have to become a detective and look for the signs that he’ll keep showing you.
Only that way can you be sure what your ex’s real feelings are.
Now, let’s dig deeper and look for the signs that can easily show you that your ex feels guilty for hurting you.
So, eyes wide open for the signs that give him away!
1. He’s quieter than usual
One of the signs that he regrets hurting you is his change in behavior.
If he used to be the main chatterbox of your group of friends, you might notice that he got quieter.
You’ll no longer see him being a conversation leader.
Instead, he’ll keep quiet most of the time and say something only if he’s directly asked and he’ll be this way especially if he sees you in his close proximity.
Even though guys are good at hiding their feelings, you’ll still be able to tell that he isn’t as happy as he wants others to believe.
His smile won’t be honest and his eyes won’t sparkle the way they used to.
All of a sudden, he’ll become lost in his thoughts and it’ll be easy to see that something is bothering him.
The problem is that when he sees you, he thinks of all those great memories the two of you shared and he regrets losing you.
At first, he acted all happy but once it hit him, he realized that the breakup maybe wasn’t the best option.
2. One of the signs he regrets hurting you is that he acts all happy but avoids talking about the breakup
Your mutual friends will keep telling you how your ex enjoys being single.
He tells them that he’s having the time of his life but his actions will give him away.
The chances are that when someone asks him why the two of you broke up, he will try to avoid that topic as much as possible.
It’s one of the signs that he regrets hurting you and maybe even thinks of getting back together.
When a man is over a relationship, he has no issue talking about why it ended. He knows that it’s a part of the past and he treats it that way.
However, if a guy still thinks about you or maybe even regrets losing you, he’ll have a hard time leading a conversation on why the two of you broke up.
It raises too many emotions and he simply isn’t ready to go through them right now.
You’ll be able to see the instant shift from happiness to gloominess the second someone asks him about you.
To him, it feels as if someone is throwing a bucket of ice-cold water over him and it’s too much to deal with!
3. He makes sure to check on you more than usual
When couples break up, their conversations decrease. That’s how things work.
But one of the signs that your ex regrets hurting you is if he keeps checking on you more than he used to.
He’ll act worried and he’ll always make sure to see how you’re doing. It’ll start with getting info from your friends and then he’ll contact you directly.
It can be a text message, a phone call, or him reaching out through social media. Whatever it is, it shows you that he still thinks of you.
He might be sorry that he hurt you and now that guilt is eating him alive so he simply needs to check on you to ease his conscience.
It all might seem odd, as at one point, he ended the relationship and now he keeps calling you to see how you’re coping with the situation.
His heart and mind are telling him that he hurt you and he hates to admit that it’s the truth. That’s why he’s trying to find a way to make it up to you.
4. One of the signs he regrets hurting you is that he’s everywhere you go
Does it feel that no matter where you go, you turn around and you see your ex?
He appears at your close friends’ social gatherings, he keeps walking past your house as it seems that it’s his new walking route, or he started buying groceries in a shop close to your home.
Literally everywhere you go, you find him. It might even get to the point where you’ll feel like he’s stalking you.
But in reality, his constant attempts to see you could be seen as a sign that he regrets hurting you.
He probably wants to have a conversation with you so he keeps going to the places where he knows he’ll see you, but the chances are that when he sees you, he freezes and has no idea how to approach you.
5. He makes sure to change himself for the better
If a guy regrets hurting you, he’ll try to work on himself. He’ll try to change for the better to make sure that he never again makes the same mistake.
Maybe you always asked him to work on himself more and now you see him going to the gym and focusing on his work.
He’s making sure to fulfill your past wishes.
And why is he doing that? It’s simple – he wants you to see that he’s willing to change for you.
He finally realized that he made a mistake and now he’s looking for ways to fix it.
He’ll change his behavior completely if that can bring you back into his life and it’s clear that he’ll be more than happy if that happens.
6. One of the signs he regrets hurting you is that he tries to talk to you
When your ex becomes overwhelmed with guilt, he’ll try to find a way to talk to you.
It’s one of the clear signs he regrets hurting you and he now wants to make it up to you.
He thinks that he can explain to you in detail why your relationship failed and that it’ll help you feel better.
And if he makes you feel better, it’ll instantly give him relief.
He’s probably been thinking too much about you and he can’t stop feeling sorry for hurting you.
It keeps him awake at night and he wants to find a way to fix the damage that he has caused.
He misses you, and he wants you to know that he’s not a bad person. He simply made a mistake, and now he feels sorry for doing so.
Don’t be surprised if he suggests getting back together. He might even tell you to look at the breakup as time spent figuring out the next step.
The guilt and regret over losing you are killing him and he wants to talk over everything with you as soon as possible.
7. He always tries to make you laugh
If your ex keeps looking for ways to make you laugh, it’s a sign he regrets hurting you.
Deep down, he still cares about you and he hates seeing you in pain.
He knows that his actions made you suffer and he can’t live with that guilt.
So, in order to make the situation a bit brighter, he’ll try to make you laugh whenever he can.
He’ll crack jokes in your company and make a fool out of himself just to see that smile on your face.
He knows that he was the cause of many tears so he’s trying to fix that with laughter.
8. One of the signs he regrets hurting you is that he stayed single
If a guy stays single after a breakup, it’s an obvious sign that he regrets hurting you and that he wants you back in his life.
He can’t imagine himself going out with anyone except you so he avoids dating completely.
He knows that jumping into a new relationship won’t make him feel better about himself.
It can only make him hurt you even more and that’s not what he wants.
He caused you too much pain and he knows that it would hurt you even more if he went out with other girls.
Besides, he doesn’t want that either so he keeps living the single life until it becomes the right time to move on.
He might even think that he stands a chance of making up with you and he doesn’t want to waste that opportunity.
9. He stays in touch with your friends and family
One of the signs he regrets hurting you is if he makes sure to stay in touch with your friends and family.
It’ll feel as if the two of you are still together; that’s how hard he’ll try to stay in contact with them.
If he didn’t care about you anymore, he wouldn’t be doing that but it’s more than obvious that he still thinks about you and that he wants you in his life.
He’s aware that he made some wrong decisions and now he’s working to fix them.
He also knows that your family and close friends are a great way to get through to you so he keeps in touch with them.
They’re the only people who can assure you that getting back together with your ex is the right step to take.
10. He brings up all those good memories from the past
When an ex keeps mentioning all those good memories from the past, it’s a sign that he regrets losing you.
He feels sorry for what he did and he wants you back in his life.
He also regrets hurting you and making your life difficult when he was the one who was supposed to make it all easier.
Now, he’s embarked on a journey of fixing things and making everything the way it used to be.
And is there a better way than talking about all those fun times you had in the past, talking about all those amazing memories the two of you share?
He probably thinks that the best way to your heart is to reignite the old flame, so don’t be surprised if he keeps mentioning all those memories from the past.
He wants to see the spark in your eyes when he talks about the things you did together.
11. One of the signs he regrets hurting you is that he tries to impress you
Are you going crazy or does it seem like your ex keeps doing things only to impress you?
He calls you in the middle of the day to brag about his great achievements and he texts you every time he does something he’s proud of.
It looks as if he wants you to see how amazing a person he actually is and how much he has changed.
He has become a new version of himself and he wants you to see that.
But why you exactly? If your relationship is over, why does he keep calling and texting you to talk about his success?
The answer is simple. It’s a sign that he regrets hurting you and thinks about getting back with you.
He’s aware that he made a mistake and now he wants to fix that and he thinks that by showing you how impressive he is, you’ll forget about those times when he hurt you.
He wants you to pay attention to him and to see that he deserves a second chance even though he blew it last time.
He’s trying to show you that this time, things will be better and he won’t make the same mistake as before.
12. He apologizes for different things he did wrong throughout the relationship
When your ex becomes suffocated by guilt, the only thing he’ll think about will be you.
He’ll meet you in town and he’ll remember how much harm he caused you.
He’ll be scrolling through his phone and he’ll stumble upon old photos of the two of you and he’ll be sorry that he ruined your smile forever.
It will be more than obvious that his behavior made you cry and he’ll have no idea how to cope with that.
That’s when he’ll start apologizing for anything and everything he did wrong throughout the relationship.
Trust me, this is one of the signs that he feels regret for hurting you.
The bad emotions caused by your pain keep suffocating him and he has to find a way to get rid of them.
That’s when he’ll open up to you and admit to you that he’s sorry for hurting you.
He’ll apologize for every tear that was caused by him, and it’ll be obvious that he’s being honest.
He’s trying to make all those negative emotions go away and he wants to make you as happy as you used to be before.
When he asks for your forgiveness, it’s up to you to decide what you want to do.
Are you able to forget how he made you feel or do you want him gone from your life?
13. He’s jealous of all of the guys who appear in your life
If a guy is okay with moving on, he won’t be bothered about whom you go out with. He won’t care about that, as he no longer cares about you.
But if he acts jealous every time he finds out that you’re in a relationship with someone or casually dating someone, then it must mean something, right?
And let me tell you that it truly does.
When a guy acts jealous when he sees you with another guy, it’s a clear sign that he regrets hurting you and that he wants you back.
His feelings for you are still there and he wants you to feel the same way about him, but when he sees you with someone else, his hopes become crushed and green-eyed jealousy overtakes his mind and soul.
He’s afraid of losing you and he sees a threat in every guy who comes in contact with you.
He doesn’t care whether it’s your co-worker or your good friend – they all look the same in his eyes.
When he looks at them, he sees guys who could ruin his chances of getting back with you and he doesn’t like that feeling.
So, if your ex keeps acting jealous every time you mention the name of some guy or when he sees you out and about with someone, he wants you back and he regrets hurting you.
14. He mentions getting back together
Finally, if your ex regrets hurting you, he’ll mention the two of you getting back together.
He probably thought over this decision a million times and it looks like the right step to take.
No matter how hard he tries, he can’t get you off of his mind.
He keeps thinking about you all the time and he thinks that you should give him another chance.
By now, he’s well aware of his mistakes and he tried to show you that he’s willing to change. If he doesn’t fix this, he’ll feel regret his whole life and he can’t live with that.
In order to ease the pain, he wants to try again with you, but this time, things will be different.
He’ll show you that he knows how to treat you right and he’ll never hurt you again.
At least that’s what he’ll tell you, but it’s your turn to analyze the situation and make a decision.
Do you believe that he will change or do you think that things will turn out the same way, no matter how many chances you give him?
I’ll leave this part up to you. You know him best and you know what he would be willing to do.
But keep one thing in mind…
Is he saying all those nice words because he truly wants to make up for his previous deeds and he wants to make you happy or is he doing that to make himself feel better?
Sometimes, when guys feel regret for hurting that one woman who gave them everything they ever asked for, they feel the need to do something for her just to make themselves feel better.
Be smart and don’t take him back only if it makes it easier for him to sleep at night.
