Lessons learned in love?

[Jenswaiting]

I believe in life there is always something you can learn [about yourself or others] in all situations. Relationships are no different, especially ones that didn't work. The difficulty in this is that many of us, including myself, have a tendancy to blame ourselves more so than the other person. Despite this struggle I think that eventually (if you want to learn from your or other's mistakes) the lesson(s) becomes clear.

I hate being bogged down by emotional turmoil and usually do the work to move past it. So I ask are there others out there willing to share their lessons learned in love?

I'll start. The recent lesson I have learned, which is not easy to bare, is to trust my gut and my intuition. I saw red flags in the first two dates and ignored them. I honestly think that had I done anything different it still wouldn't have changed the outcome. I hope that by acknowledging this I come closer to acceptance and to avoid holding any grudges against him.

[Vanessa]

... to trust my gut and my intuition

Same here. Last time I ignored my instincts because there was no solid proof of what I was suspecting, namely that my charming ex boyfriend was porking some slag behind my back. If I had walked away then and there I woulda saved myself loads of trouble.

Other lessons learned...

I'll start with the classic Robert Frost quote - 'In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on'. I should use that as my signature actually.
It all gets better in time, even though at first it seems like it's never going to end.
People don't change.
Second chances are pointless.
My self-respect comes first; I shouln't abase myself in any way because of someone.
It's not worth risking a friendship that can last you a lifetime for a relationship that's bound to end sooner or later.

Um. And those are just the first things that come to my mind.