Think aloud
Being in love is a wonderful thing. But sadly, not all relationships are meant to last forever. So, what if he hurt you? Are there any signs he knows he hurt you?
Finding peace within is difficult when your heart is broken into a million pieces. You start doubting that there’s such a thing as real love and that you’re ever going to ever find it.
Being hurt by a loved one is the worst. Your emotions are a mess, you question your worth, and you’re left wondering if they’re even aware of your heartbreak.
It doesn’t matter if you’re hurt by your best friend or ex-boyfriend, the pain is still there. You sit alone contemplating what went wrong and negative emotions start to bottle up in you.
You have a hard time piecing yourself back together because your self-esteem has taken a major knock.
So, you start asking yourself if there are any signs he regrets hurting you.
It’s completely normal to think about whether or not your ex regrets breaking up with you, and if he’s in a new relationship or not. It’s okay to want your ex back.
Those are common feelings to have when he hurt you. On top of that, you’re wondering if he’s even aware that he hurt you?
Don’t worry, there are signs he knows he hurt you, and we’ll get into it. But at the end of the day, it’s much more important what you do about yourself in order to get your life back on the right track.
I know that it breaks you apart knowing that someone you deeply cared about has hurt you. But only he knows the reason why he left you.
How do you know if your ex regrets leaving you in the first place?
Well, there is no single universal answer to this question. This completely depends on how long the two of you were together. A month? Six months? A year?
It also has to do with whatever problem you had that led to your breakup.
After being single again, most guys will pretend as if the breakup didn’t affect them at all. This is especially true if it’s their first time breaking up with a girl.
They’ll try to enjoy the single life as much as they can. Your ex might even find a new girl and you’ll see photos on his social media feed of him partying all night and living it up.
After he’s done with that post-breakup phase, he’ll completely disappear from the radar. That’s when reality will hit him and he’ll know he hurt you.
He may even use the no-contact rule because he regrets breaking up with you.
The reality of the situation will kick in and he’ll know he messed up big time with you. He’ll try to use many tactics to get you back. He might even work through your mutual friends just so you’re aware that he knows he hurt you.
The truth is, breakups are never easy, especially for the ones who got dumped. However, if a guy regrets leaving you, then he’ll show clear signs he knows he hurt you.
Signs he knows he hurt you
Right now, he’s overwhelmed by emotions and if he isn’t mature enough, then he won’t regret hurting you.
But if he’s emotionally mature, then you can be sure that he feels guilty for hurting you.
This is most visible with cheaters who eventually realize just how much damage they’ve caused to the other person. That’s when the guilt hits them and they try to find a way back to their old partner to mend what they broke.
Even if you’re in a healthy relationship, that doesn’t mean that your partner won’t hurt you. The common misconception is that people who have a happy relationship are never hurt. Well, you’re wrong about that.
Sometimes your partner might do certain little things that could potentially hurt you. Truth be told, he might do them unintentionally, but still, you’ll feel hurt after their actions.
So, are there any obvious signs he knows he hurt you? Yes, there are and I’ll list the most common ones.
Some of these signs can also be applied to women who are still in a relationship but are wondering if there are any signs their partner knows he hurt them.
1. He tries to find ways to talk to you
A good sign that he knows he hurt you is when he’s trying to find ways to contact you to tell you how sorry he is. Is he saying all those sweet words just so he can make up for the bad things he did to you?
That depends on whether or not he repeated the same mistakes over and over again.
The guilt he’s feeling right now is eating away at him. He regrets losing you, so that’s why he’s unable to control his urges to call or text you. He may even send you cute emojis to reduce the tension between the two of you.
He’ll check up on you to see how you’re doing because he realizes that he hurt you. He has to find a way to make you feel better and in turn, he’ll feel better too.
You’ll see his phone activity spike and how he manages to maintain long conversations with you.
Remember all those times you had to wait forever for him to reply to you? Well, a clear sign he knows he hurt you is if he changes that habit and now replies to you in record time.
You might be startled at first, but he wants to repent for all his bad deeds.
He’ll even ask you seemingly silly things, just to keep the communication channel open – your advice on how to prepare a certain meal or which movie to watch next.
You mean something to him and he knows he hurt you. He misses you and your voice. He’s constantly communicating with you because he doesn’t want your bond to vanish.
2. He sincerely apologizes to you
Did he send you that cheesy “I’m sorry” message? The truth is, if you’re ex-boyfriend has emotionally grown since your breakup, chances are that the message he sent you is honest and from the bottom of his heart.
After all, you two shared a romantic connection and he wants to express his emotions to you. That’s why he’ll apologize to you for breaking your heart and leaving you.
It might take a while for you to receive that kind of satisfaction, but eventually, his apology will be honest. You’ll see how broken he is for breaking up with you and how sorry he feels for the mistakes he’s made.
He’ll open up to you about his feelings and how completely in love with you he’s been ever since you went on your first date.
Don’t be shocked when he asks you for forgiveness. His soul feels heavy because of his wrongdoings and now he’s asking you to take that burden off of him.
His life became empty after he left you. He didn’t realize how lucky he was to have a woman like you by his side. But the single life taught him how precious you truly are and now he wants to sincerely apologize to you.
3. He becomes unusually quiet
Most human beings love to talk, and that includes men too. It’s just that they avoid certain topics while they could talk about others for hours on end.
But one telltale sign he knows he hurt you is when he’s quieter and more withdrawn than usual.
It’s very common that after a breakup you don’t talk to each other like you used to, but you’ll notice how he behaves differently – not just toward you, but your mutual friends as well.
His body language will be different and he’ll converse less and less with everyone around him.
You shouldn’t be surprised if you still see him posting pictures about how great his single life is, but he’s just putting on an act and you are the only one who can see that.
Men are real masters of suppressing their feelings and putting on a show in public so that others don’t see their true emotions.
Does it seem to you that his smile isn’t genuine? Does he make excuses every time someone asks him why he isn’t enjoying himself?
If that’s the case, then he knows he hurt you and he’s just struggling to find the right words to tell you how sorry he is.
Now that he’s realized he hurt you, he regrets his behavior and doesn’t know how to approach you.
4. He changes for the better
Don’t forget that this is the man who was with you for a long time. He knows you very well and he knows ways to win you back.
He might not do any grand romantic gestures, but you’ll see from his actions that he wants you back because he knows he hurt you.
Every successful relationship faces obstacles on their road to their happily-ever-after. And there will be specific things that your partner does that will get on your nerves despite being perfect for each other.
Who knows, maybe the reason you two broke up was that you two fought about this but he didn’t change his behavior toward you.
However, once he knows he hurt you, he’ll start to change for the better. He’ll set his ego aside and take all your criticism into consideration and make an effort to improve himself.
If you notice he’s a completely different person, that’s when you can be sure he knows he hurt you.
His gestures and attitude toward you will also change for the better. He’ll try to fix things between the two of you so that he can get another chance.
5. He showers you with gifts
One of the biggest signs he knows he hurt you is when he buys you dozens of gifts to make up for his bad behavior.
He’s feeling guilty for breaking up with you or for doing something he knew would hurt you.
There is a possibility that he changed for the better and now wants to turn the tables around, but if this is something that he doesn’t usually do, then don’t overlook it.
Don’t reject his nice gesture off the bat, but be careful not to repeat the same mistakes all over again. He might buy you dozens of gifts and be all romantic to compensate for his guilt, but the problem won’t go away so easily.
6. He pretends to be overly happy
It’s a well-known fact that most men have a tough time showing how they actually feel. Sometimes they’re incapable of expressing their emotions since they’ve never been properly taught to do so.
That’s why if he knows he hurt you, he’ll be showing everyone how much he enjoys being single again.
He’ll be very active on his social media profiles, posting pics of him being over-the-moon happy without you.
And if you bump into him, he’ll tell you how awesome his life is and talk as if nothing ever happened.
His attitude will be completely different and he’ll pretend to be the happiest person on the planet. In fact, many people will tell you that he’s become the most optimistic person they know.
On top of that, his friends will notice it. They’ll keep telling you how great everything is and how happy he’s become since the two of you have broken up.
However, this happiness will be very shallow and you’ll be able to see through it and realize how fake it is.
At that moment, you’ll realize he knows he hurt you.
7. He tells you that you deserve a better man
Another great way to relieve the guilt he’s been dealing with for quite some time is to shift the focus onto you.
You might hear him saying that he’s not good enough for you or that you deserve a better man.
If that was the case, you wouldn’t have been in a relationship with him in the first place, right? You know that he’s lying to you and that he’s trying to alleviate any guilt he’s experiencing right now.
He’s unable to face his mistakes, so his next logical step is to divert the attention away from himself to you.
He can’t take the heavy burden on his shoulders anymore. That’s why he’ll say that you deserve a better man.
His low self-esteem is making him do and say things he never did before. He may even buy you gifts and tell you that you’re too good for him.
8. He does everything he can to avoid you
It could be that the guilt he’s been experiencing is making it hard for him to face you right now. He’s not mature enough to face his misdeeds and he can’t bear to see you hurting.
He’s so ashamed by his actions that he can’t look you in the eye. He’ll probably also avoid you by not returning any of your phones or text messages.
If you feel like he’s deliberately avoiding you, then he knows he hurt you for sure.
9. He puts in the effort to make you laugh
Whether you’re in a relationship or you’ve recently broken up, if he still cares about you, then he’ll do everything in his power to see a smile on your face.
Even if you two are exes now or if you had a huge fight, that doesn’t automatically mean he’ll stop thinking about you and your happiness.
I know that it’s difficult to be happy after being hurt by a breakup. But take it as an obvious sign he knows he hurt you if he makes an actual effort to bring joy back in your life and make you feel like your old self again.
That’s why he’ll crack a joke or two when you’re around him to make you laugh.
He might even surprise you one night with your favorite food. He knows he hurt you, so he’ll go out of his way to put a smile on that gorgeous face and make you happy again.
10. He starts showing up
Wondering why he’s started showing up at places that you usually frequent? Did you see him at your friends’ party even though he wasn’t invited?
Well, if he suddenly takes an interest in your friends and your life in general, that means he knows he messed up big time.
He’ll do anything he can to insert himself in any gathering that involves you.
Sometimes you might bump into him at your favorite restaurant or supermarket. He could go as far as to stalk you a bit and show up outside of your home or workplace.
He knows precisely where you’re going to be when by now. After all, you two were together for quite some time.
Whether it’s cute or creepy that he’s taking interest in your life, that’s for you to decide.
11. He speaks highly of you to other people
Do your friends tell you that he’s been speaking well of you to other people, and now you’re wondering what the reason is behind it?
Is it possible that he recognizes he’s made a mistake and now takes full responsibility for the breakup?
Well, a good sign he knows he hurt you is when he speaks highly of you to other people.
He won’t talk negative things about you if he didn’t still care about you. The guilt is tearing him up and one way to ease that burden a bit is to tell others how well you treated him.
12. He’s more open and adventurous
This is for those who are still in a relationship and are wondering if he knows he hurt you.
Tell me, how many times has he found an excuse for not clearing out the garage? And how many times has he forgotten about taking you to dinner on a Friday night even though you agreed that would be your date night?
Well, if he does things differently than before, then it means he knows he hurt you.
He’ll be more open and adventurous to doing new things, as well as the old ones that were off-limits. Heck, he may even invite your parents over for Thanksgiving because he realizes how much that means to you.
He’s made some changes because he’s feeling guilty for hurting you.
13. He blames others for his wrongdoings
It’s always easier to blame others for your mistakes than accept them as a mature person should. And that’s exactly what he’s been doing because he knows he hurt you.
He might say things like “It wasn’t my fault,” “It was in the heat of the moment,” or something similar.
But the truth is, he’s only making up excuses for his wrongdoings because he feels bad for hurting you.
Even if he acts as if he’s the victim in the situation, deep down he knows the truth, he’s just not man enough to accept that he made a mistake. People who don’t feel guilty don’t make excuses.
Sometimes, men don’t grow emotionally enough to see that their misdeeds have hurt their partner. Only when the dust settles and they become bored of singledom, the truth hits them and they start regretting what they’ve done.
14. He’s started doing house chores
Another sign he knows he hurt you if the two of you are still in a relationship is when he starts doing house chores.
It is a well-known fact that men prefer actions over words. They’ll rather try to fix things, not by talking, but by taking matters into their own hands literally and solving the problem.
If you see him doing things around the house, the same chores you’ve been begging him to do for months, then you’ll know that he knows he hurt you.
He’ll cook dinner for the two of you or do the laundry without you telling him to.
He feels guilty for hurting you and that’s why he’s decided to take action.
