I don't want to message her first out of fear of rejection, what to do?

[Techusy]

Long story short, I was with my first love for 3 years before we broke up nearly 10 years ago. We were young and in our early 20s back then, things just fizzled out. I've always thought about her but eventually we went our separate ways, she got in to a relationship with another guy for a few years but eventually he ended up cheating on her, this was around 2017.

At the start of 2019, she did add me on social media but she didn't say anything to me so a few days later I ended up deleting her because I realised I still wasn't over her. At the end of 2019 I heard that she was engaged, she ended up getting married but then I heard she got divorced around a year and a half ago.

A few weeks ago I found out that the reason for her divorce was because her husband cheated on her and was abusive towards her.

As for me I have been single for a few years now, I have been evolving in my career and proud of how far I've come and have recently started a new chapter in my career.

I considered getting in touch with her a few months ago but I noticed that she had cut off a lot of people from her social media so I wasnt too sure how she'd react to me adding her, I thought she'd reject me seen as she's cutting off a lot of people.

So 2 weeks ago I took the plunge seen as I had nothing to lose and sent her a request on instagram, and she has accepted and also followed me back. She's hasn't liked any of my posts but she has been viewing my stories, I haven't spoke to her yet. I liked one of her posts yesterday.

I'm tempted to send her a message but not sure if she'll respond or how she'd react, I was hoping she'd message me first but don't think she will. I know I may be overthinking it but any advice would be appreciated, thanks

[boltnrun]

You posted this before. Did you find anything anyone told you on this thread helpful?

https://www.enotalone.com/topic/458928-is-it-worth-getting-in-touch-with-my-first-love/#comment-5845445

[ShySoul]

You never know unless you try. Life has presented you the opportunity to reconnect with someone who means a lot to you. So take advantage of that opportunity. There are people I would like to talk to again, but don't have a way of reaching them. Some of my few regrets revolve around not reaching out to others when I had the chance. So don't make the same mistake. You don't want to look back years from now and wonder "what if I had talked to them again?" 

Be careful though to just take things as they happen. Don't get caught up in a fantasy that you'll magically get back together. LIkewise, don't imagine a nightmare where she rejects you. You are the same people at heart, so things will probably be fine. But you also have your own lifes to live and it has been some time. Anything could happen, so try not to have any expectations. But there's no harm in just saying hi.