The things you learn about yourself through dating

I started having "boyfriends" at 14 when I moved to my dads. Over the past 18 years of "dating" (8 of which were taken up with marriage) I have learned a lot. About dating, boys and myself. In this blog I'll share a little bit of that knowledge with all of you...

1) I learned that "I love you" doesn't always mean I love you.

2) I learned that just because you share your body, that doesn't mean he'll share his heart.

3) I learned that loving someone doesn't guarantee that they'll love you back.

4) I learned that its better to ride out the ride than to give into your fears and leave the park.

5) I learned you cant measure every boy by the same yard stick

6) I learned that a lot of boys lie, all the time.

7) I learned to not assume that all boys lie.

8) I learned that being seen as fragile can be a bad thing

9) I learned not to be vulnerable around males if it could be helped

10) I learned that some males are psychotic assholes, and that the ones who want to isolate you from your friends are best to run far far away from.

11) I learned that I am a coward when it comes to emotion

12) I learned that confrontation in relationships makes me want to turn tail and run

13) I learned that I can easily become a doormat and I put the other persons wants and needs before my own more often than not

14) I learned that i have more of a "need to please" than is healthy, for me or for the relationship

15) I learned that I have low opinions of my body and am very self concious

16) I learned that talking about sex is fine with me, unless its initiated by someone else and applies to me and specific things I've done, then its embarrassing

17) I learned that the need to feel loved can lead me to do self-destructive things that make me love myself less

18) I learned sex doesn't = love

19) I learned that giving into something you don't want to do to keep from being forced into it only offers the illusion of control, not control itself.

20) I learned that your own opinion of yourself is more important than others opinions of you, but that its often hard to convince yourself of that fact

21) I learned not to wrap my own opinion of myself up in what the males in my life thought of me

22) I learned not to rely on others for my happiness

23) I learned that it is very important to be able to depend on yourself, be self-sufficient and always have a back up plan

24) I learned that I am more neurotic in relationships than I care to admit to

25) I've learned that Cosmo relationship quizzes are wrong more often than not