If you're reading this, it's too late... you have previously been or currently are in a relationship with cheerleading. Whether it was a high school squad, competitive team, or college team, you know that it roped you in faster than any Nicholas Sparks movie or adorable puppy.

No one knows the REAL side of cheerleading. It's more than just pom-poms, cute uniforms, perfect hair, makeup and spray tans. Cheerleading is something we've dedicated most of our time and energy to.

It was/is the love of your life: you made life-long friends, you had endless opportunities and you even learned a few life lessons along the way.

1. How to be a good teammate

Okay so, you're throwing a human in the air and you HAVE to catch them, you have to be dependable and trustworthy. Now, if you're the one being thrown, you better do your job and not do anything cray-cray up there.

We all know there's that one point in the routine where everyone is literally dying and somehow you manage to have enough breath to keep encouraging everyone to finish strong. You hold each other accountable and push each other to be the absolute best.

You have to do what's expected of you for your team. You work extremely hard for each other and you've formed an unbreakable bond, the idea of letting them down is just unthinkable.

2. How to be mentally tough

Whether you're cheering at a football game in the South in September when it's 100 degrees or up North in November when it's 30 degrees, you bet the fans in the stadium have no idea that you're strugglin' because you do what you do and you do it well.

Or maybe you're terrified to throw that standing two back handsprings to full? It doesn't matter, you keep pushing and you don't let anything hold you back.

Through hell or high water, you WILL get through it and you WILL do it with a smile on your face. You never let them see you sweat.

3. How to be resilient

You just took an elbow to the nose? It's okay, give it a minute. It might be broken or bleeding, you can't really tell, but it's fine because your pyramid hasn't hit the entire practice and you need to make it happen. You can deal with the pain (or plastic surgery) later.

No matter what is thrown your way, you'll come back even stronger and make sure you succeed because you've been programmed that way.

4. How to display confidence in everything you do

You're used to being in front of an arena or stadium full of people, you know how to portray confidence. You can easily put on a performance and have the time of your life while doing it.

There's literally nothing that will stop you from putting on a show, it's become a rush of adrenaline that you look forward to (and you kind of want to throw up thinking about it). Cheerleading has given you the ability to see the talent and strength within yourself so you can showcase it to everyone you meet.

However, we know that what we do is COMPLETELY under-estimated. But for us, it's so much more than just "waving pom-poms around." It's a sport.

Through the sweat, long practices, frustration, injuries and tears, you grew to love that sport. And over time, it became your life.

Trophies, jackets and rings aren't what you'll remember in the end. It's the friendships, the memories and what you learned about yourself. And honestly, if cheerleading didn't teach us anything about ourselves, we probably wouldn't love it so much.