By Vince Scebbi
Now that school’s out and has become a distant memory, you may be tempted to forget the important lessons you learned while sitting at your desk in math class, such as adding one to one makes two, that all right triangles equal 180 degrees, and, more importantly, how to subtly check out the girl two rows over, who vaguely reminds you of Emma Watson.
Everyone knows that students are not only absorbing what’s written on the chalk board, but also the world around them…and that includes the dating realm.
So now that those days of puberty, driver’s education, and prom are in the rear view mirror, true students of the dating game know how to take their classroom lessons and apply them to their current adult relationships. A big part of this process involves self-reflection on your past mistakes, while at the same time realizing that making wrong moves is how you improve your game.
Let’s be honest – everyone learned lessons about “love” in health class, and I’m not talking about the physically taxing kind, but rather the lessons of your heart. Here are some worth remembering:
1. “Don’t let the drama bring you down”: It doesn’t matter how old you are, because drama will always find a way back into your life. Of course, there’s no easy way to cope with unwanted drama– you just need to accept that it’s there, and keep your distance from those who cause it. Chances are that those who cause problems will end up with issues of their own.
2. “It’s the subtlety of sexiness”: One of the most important lessons you learned in school was how to interact socially. In relationships, this plays a huge factor at events, such as making the first move when approaching that Emma-Watson-look-a-like. In high school, a conversation could easily begin with a discussion about homework. Now that you’re older, don’t over think it. Find common ground with your potential love interest, and hopefully both a discussion and a future date will result.
3. “Love is a reaction”: With each relationship you make and break, you take a step closer to finding true love. Most likely starting in school, you began discovering what love meant to you, and how a solid relationship worked. Now, you can analyze your successes and failures, what you liked versus what annoyed you, and why you were attracted to someone in the first place. Chemistry class taught you what didn’t work: some couples were like ionic bonds – one atom giving, and the other taking. Although the theory seemed simple, that scenario rarely worked effectively, as sometimes other atoms were thrown into the mix (or, other people). The lesson you took with you is that the strongest relationships are the ones that tend to share and compromise.
4. “Farewell! God knows when we shall meet again”: Shakespeare knows best! Whether you dated someone for four hours or four years, break-ups hurt – and in high school, it always seemed to hurt worse. Between the first love experience, the drama that comes in the aftermath, or perhaps the idealistic view of relationships we have when we’re young, it’s just something we get through and learn from in order to grow up.
Similar to graduation, what we learned in school were the basic love lessons we carried into the adult world. But the work is never over when it comes to learning about love and relationships. It’s an ongoing process that we’re sure to get better and better at as time goes on.
