Your first ANYTHING is pretty powerful. First taste of ice cream. First pair of your favorite shoes. And definitely your first love. There’s nothing to really compare it to because

you’ve never experienced anything like it before. That makes it feel like it’s the most intense thing in the world and that can make it pretty hard to let go

of. 

For the teens checking this out, that’s why you should watch who you have your first—first kiss, first love, first sexual experience---with. It’s like an introduction to a whole

new world. Filled with things you might not be prepared for if you don't choose wisely.

If your first love was an awesome individual who made you feel really good about yourself, congrats! On the other hand, if they couldn’t be more of a jerk, one

who close to ruined your life (at least you felt that way at the time), then…sorry to hear that. Especially since they have now set the tone for how you

see other people. 

When you’ve never loved someone before and they hurt you, that can make you think that every other love experience will be the same way. 

That’s not necessarily the

case, but it’s understandable why you might feel that way. First loves set the bar of expectation. No doubt about it.

Who goes into a first love relationship and says “I’m gonna love you...until we break up”? First loves are so…EVERYTHING that the last thing on your mind is it could

end. It’s usually just the opposite. You’re sitting somewhere doodling what you think will be your last name and fantasizing about what your kids will look like someday. You make present

and future plans that include your first love and you can’t imagine life without them. So much to the point that once they are gone, believing that they will never

return---even if it's 20 years from now---is something that takes a while to grasp the reality of. (Really REALLY hard!)

Some people? You date them for a while, it ends and you’re over it. Next. Your first love? Hate to break it to you, but there are some people who

have been married for years (and years) who still wonder what their first love is doing. Thanks to social media (and how easy it is to find people these days), some

of even gotten caught up in emotional affairs with them because of it. When you give someone so much of your mind, body and emotions, it can take months---decades even---to totally

move on. And even then, you might have a little bit of your heart that’s reserved just for them.

Here’s the real doozy! Just like you were in love with your first love, they were in love with you too. This means that everything we just said? Times it

times 2! 9.5 times out of 10, they are going through all of this as well. That’s why some people get DMs in the middle of the night from their

first love---someone they haven’t heard from in 10 years!

Nostalgia is like a drug when it comes to reminiscing about your first love. If that’s what you’re going through right

now, you’re not crazy. You’re human. Just make sure you keep it all in perspective. The memory of someone is real different than trying to build something with their present

self.

In other words, more times than not, it’s better to leave a first love where they were---in your past. And to accept that for what it is---something really sweet…that

needs to stay there.