5 Things Only Your First Love Can Teach You

The first relationship you have is both the sweetest, best thing in the world, and the hardest, most soul-crushing thing in the world. Your first real relationship usually has a profound impact. It's hard, if not impossible, to forget the first time you love someone and they love you back. It's also a period in which you learn about yourself, about other people (well, usually a lot about one person in specific) and what means to be in a relationship.

When it comes to your first relationship, everything is brand new and because of that, it's intensified. And while you're in it, you may not see just how much learning is going on, but when it's over you can look back and realize every little bit of it was a lesson in life and love. You are forever changed after your first relationship, and changed in a good way. You have a better idea of what you want not just from a relationship, but for yourself. Your first relationship defines you in many ways and prepares you for what's ahead. It also teaches you what it means to feel the pangs of heartache for the first time, too.

* It teaches you that life is not a fairy tale

No matter how much we hate to admit it, life is not always a carbon copy of our favorite fairy tale. Couples don't live happily ever after all the time. Unlike in movies, relationships in actual life are hard work. Falling in love may be effortless and spontaneous but sticking up sure is not. As princes turn into frogs, you learn to embrace life and hope for the best.

* Do not expect too much

This is perhaps the first lesson we can learn from our first love or relationship. We sure would have expected too much from our first relationship and the important thing is to realise that expecting too much amounts to undesirable disappointment.

* There is the thing called love

Love does exist and people do fall in love something all of us learn from our first relationship. Most importantly, you understand that you are worthy of love.

* You become stronger

A break-up definitely makes you stronger than before. You are less likely to be swayed emotionally than you initially would have been.

* Always Be Yourself

You should always be yourself when it comes to your relationships. When you're out there searching for "the one," you can easily lose yourself and settle for something that's just not the right fit. You'll try to put the pieces of the puzzle together, and inevitably realize that you're living a life that doesn't feel like yours. In your first adult relationship, you may learn that love is about compromise, but that your personality doesn't have to be a part of that package.