"This is not a love story, this is a story about love" is the first thing you are told in the beginning of "500 Days of Summer." Ah, finally; the exact words us non-hopeless romantics want to hear. Throughout the movie, you feel Tom's pain, and sometimes you feel like Summer, even though you don't want to. So much truth is held within this one movie on how love and life really are. It's nothing like a fairy tale at all. Life actually goes a little something like this:

1. Love Isn't real to some people.

All of those believers in love have probably cringed at this line. No such thing as love? Then what's the point of life? Uh... well, I'm going to have to go with making myself extremely happy. Sometimes love does seem like a fantasy after a heartbreak or two.

2. Mutual feelings don't always happen.

Almost all of us have been there. Your feelings are stronger than the other person's, or they don't have any feeling for you at all. It sucks. In the romantic movies, the characters always like each other at one point or another, but that's not real life.

3. The "just friends" stage is too real.

Yup, welcome to the generation of "just being friends" or "friends with benefits." I'm not saying that it's fully a bad thing; sometimes, you are better off being just friends in the end, even if it causes a heartbreak or two.

4. The words no one wants to hear.

The point in the movie your heart breaks for Tom. Summer, how could you? That's when you remember this is not a love story, and this is about real life. You feel the heartbreak after those words, because you experienced them in one way or another.

5. Your expectations almost never succeed in reality.

You expect to go everywhere together, be together. That's not always the case; you wish you were able to be with that person in that exact moment in time. That's when reality hits you straight in the face and you realize you need to settle down with your own expectations.

6. Throughout this "relationship," you do feel strong feelings.

Don't get me wrong, relationships aren't all bad. You feel some of the most amazing things while infatuated with another soul. It's okay to not think all love is bad.

7. When it does start to fall apart, you wonder when it all went wrong.

Was it my fault? Was I not enough? These are the first thoughts that run through your head at the end. You remember all of the good times, along with some of the not-so-good things. You think about your first fight and what led on from there.

8. Love isn't all it's cracked up to be.

Your whole life, you were a hopeless romantic and couldn't wait to find your soulmate. Then, before you know it, you're shattered. All of those romance movies and people talking about being so in love, they don't feel real anymore.

9. Even after the heartbreak, you just want the other person to be happy.

You once loved this person. You went through a period of grieving because of this person, but that doesn't mean you have to stop caring about their happiness. You will always truly hope they're happy, even if you can't admit it.

10. Some people are meant to fall in love, but not be together.

A lot can change between two people. Some grow while others don't, and things need to change for the better. Love can come and go like the seasons, even though that's not what we generally have in mind when we think about love. Even if an old love made you cold and bitter against the future love that could happen in your life, don't be afraid. Love with all your heart while you still can.