This is something I'll never understand. How can someone be with another person for so long and be able to end up things in such drastic manner (assuming there wasn't any toxicity in the relationship)? I mean, if you hadn't any idea that this could happen then did your partner never try to fix whatever problem you had before taking that decision?
The upside of such events, which has been mentioned by others already, is that you are now free to find the right person for you. Breakups, while sometimes being pretty emotional, are almost always for the better.
That's a big assumption. Maybe it's me, but when I look around, I see a lot of hidden tensions in people who've been together for a long time. In most cases, I'd say it borders toxicity. Relationships are tough.
IMO what predicts that people stay together is that they're capable of navigating it, it doesn't even matter if the navigation is unhealthy (i.e. like some of my family members, they'll stay together until death, but there are some painful sacrifices both parties are making).
Like it could be that my wife wants to be nice to me and buys something specific and i just say 'ah you shouldn't buy that, it produces so much garbage (lots of wrapping)' and she answers 'yeah i know but i thought you like it so i bought it for you'.
Might not be the perfect example but whenever something similar happens, it feels to me that i took a little bit of 'fun' and 'nice gesture' out of our relationship by saying this kind of things.
On the other hand, if i would never say something (and of course vice versa) we would be stuck but we would not have those small disappointments in our relationship.
But i regret those things because it is much nicer to see your significant other being happy about making you happy.
It is so much easier not to offend someone when you just follow your own set of rules for yourself. Like not telling someone, who just 'drooped' garbage that they just 'drooped' garbage. It is 100 times harder when it is your partner.
Now we don't have any secrets between each other anymore. But that was a long long way and not easy.
Now imagine a Relationship which wouldn't do that. You can easily start living next to each other over a longer period of time and then suddenly you realize that you crossed that border.
My relationship is a giving and taking on both sides.
We talked through a lot of things and still do even now after nearly 10 years.
A real relationship is not a one person show.