The first love is always new and exciting and it seems life-changing. But looking back on it, you realize that this first experience changes you and the way you view relationships a lot more. Instead of being naive to that new experience, you now know what to expect and how to handle love. Here are a few things I learned from my first:

It doesn’t make sense.

Everyone feels and experiences it very differently. Just because your friend describes it one way, that doesn't dictate how it's supposed to be.

People show love in different ways.

And if it isn’t the same way we show it, we start to worry it’s not there. That’s not the case, everyone has a different love language.

Self-love ALWAYS comes first.

If someone can’t love themselves, there’s no way they’ll be able to love you. Don’t try to love someone for them, it’ll drain you. You need have confidence in what you're bringing to the table so that you know your worth and you'll know when your worth isn't being recognized.

Love alone is not enough.

There needs to be respect. There needs to be kindness. There needs to be friendship. Love only means something if there are actions to back it up. There needs to be a mutual foundation of friendship in order to build up to love.

Love is a commitment.

It’ll only work as hard as you do. A relationship requires work. If you don’t put it in, then don’t expect much to come out of it. It's a promise that you make to the other person.

It’s a really strong emotion.

You’d be really surprised with how much you’d put up with because of how much you love the person. So make sure that you're being treated the way you want to be treated.

This person will always have a special place in your heart.

No matter how badly things may have ended, they taught you a lot. Respect that.

You’re stronger than you think.

When it ends, you think that you’re broken and you won’t be able to feel anything like this again. You’re wrong. You’ll come back stronger than ever and you'll have all these experiences to look back on.

Once it's over, boy, is it over.

Those feelings that you had in the relationship don't necessarily carry over past it. The person that they are after you is not the same person that they were when they were with you. And sometimes that's the hardest truth to face.