In her song New Rules, Dua Lips perfectly summed up why you should not give your ex another chance. And for a lot of people, it is true. There are only two outcomes that happen when you give an ex a second chance – the relationship mends and grows for the better or you get scarred for a lifetime.

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Recently, we found a thread on the Ask Women community on Reddit where women shared how things went after they gave their exes a second or even a third chance. Their answers are brutally honest and they will help you if you are thinking about giving that ex another chance. Read on below.

1. “We initially broke up because of his lack of maturity, despite him being eight years older than me. We reconnected several years later and we gave it another try. He was still completely immature and even had his mother dump me on his behalf through a text message.” – YetiPie

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2. “I gave my ex two-three chances. It never changed, but he would do enough to bandage the relationship for a bit longer. In the end, we grew into different people.” – TakethThyKnee

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3. “I gave my ex a second chance after breaking up for six months after our first year together. He was able to show me he would put the work in and vice versa. We are happily married now, 10 years later!” – Struckbyfire

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4. “Four extra chances. Every promise she made about changing, she broke. She pretended really well on the last one for a good while, but eventually, the mask slipped and she went back to being exactly the person she was. We’ve been separated for nearly three years, I moved to a new country to get away from her, and my life has improved immeasurably in almost every way.” – N7twitch

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5. “He’d broken up with me because we couldn’t see it work out between us. We agreed to stay friends. Three months later, we kissed. We told each other what a bad idea us kissing was. Three months later, he moved in. It’s been 14 years and two kids since.” – Pondering_Giraffe

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6. “I gave my first boyfriend a second chance after he cheated. It didn’t last long until I changed my mind. I think I changed my mind because he started telling me how his family hated me and how he was depressed after he cheated on me. I broke up again for good.” – HunkyDorky1800

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7. “He got two years of therapy. So I took him back. Things are good now. But we did not see each other during those two years. I would not have done it without extensive therapy.” – Murky_Deer_7617

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8. “Nothing changed- I finally got the nerve to end it for the last time.” – whateverashley

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9. “I gave mine a second chance. We are definitely stronger than ever, but sometimes I have that feeling that he’ll do it again. So far, we have completed a solid six years.” – alliesouth

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10. “It didn’t work, he left me even more brokenhearted.” – Maragent-bee

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11. “I wasted seven years of my life to a man who wouldn’t commit. Don’t do it, ladies. I gave him endless chances.” – meatballbusiness

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Also Read: Breakup Movies

12. “He cheated on me early into our relationship and I was naive enough to give him a second chance. Five years together and three and a half years of living together later, I discovered he’d been cheating for almost half the relationship. I consider myself a fairly intelligent, intuitive, deeply perceptive person but he’d manipulated me so expertly I had no idea. In my opinion, anyone who wronged you once should never ever be given the kindness and grace of a second chance.” – Bigtuna_1996

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13. “I’ve given many exes chances in the past and it definitely didn’t work out. It always started out fine, but then over the course of a few weeks or months, it ended the same way each and every time. Just leave the past in the past.” – kathyanne38

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14. “It worked out so wonderfully that we’re getting divorced! LOL.” – Ok_Commission9026

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15. “I told him that complete honesty was a hard boundary and he wouldn’t be given a third chance if he broke it again. I caught him in another lie two months later and stayed true to my word. I do believe that people can change and grow, but the reality with this ex was that I had been ignoring red flags throughout the whole relationship.” – soyboydom

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Would you be willing to give your ex a second or even a third chance?

Also Read: 12 Post-Breakup Mistakes You Should Never Make