This is actually really lengthy, and I haven’t written anything of this length in a while. You really don’t have to read this. It’s just something that I thought of tonight, and I just felt like writing about it for the sake of remembering.

Now this is not meant to be any sort of enlightening or profound discovery, this is just a thought that seriously came to mind tonight (for no reason at all might I add). Anyways, the realization: You have to go through the bad relationships before finally being in the right one with “the one.” Like I said, this isn’t to be some sort of revelation or anything; I just thought about it randomly. It is after all a pretty simple concept that I’m sure everyone already knows, but I just came up with good reasoning tonight that makes the idea make more sense, to me at least.

Voluntarily going through the bad to get to the good, that just sounds like so much work and it sounds like you’re only making your life more complicated than necessary. However, I’ve just realized that acting this way shouldn’t be misconstrued as a bad thing or foolish behavior. In actuality, it’s probably one of the best things we could ever do for ourselves. That sounds completely ridiculous, right? That’s what I thought, but then I thought about it even more. (Talk about being over-analytical.)

So the reasoning behind the reasoning: Even though sometimes a relationship doesn’t end well or it’s bad from beginning to end, each one is vital to building you into the person you will become once you’ve reached ”the one” and the right relationship. I mean it’s obvious that from each relationship you gain something that you carry on to the next. That’s just how it works; there’s no point in arguing otherwise. You learn what you want in a relationship, what doesn’t work for you, etc.

However, what I find most important that you gain from each failed relationship is what you take away from the other person. And I’m not talking about how you realize you can’t be with someone who snores, or trivial things like that. That’s a whole different conversation. I’m talking about how you’re basically a new and improved version of yourself in every new relationship you’re in because of the characteristics you’ve acquired from your ex in previous ones.

Here’s an example just to make sure I’m clear enough in my explanation: Your ex was extremely obsessed with baseball, and before getting together, you were only slightly a fan. However, once you’re together, you too become obsessed. You break up, but you’re still obsessed with baseball because you’ve now invested so much of yourself in this new activity. You bring that new part of your being into the next relationship.

The cycle continues and continues with each subsequent relationship. Basically the point of this rather long-winded explanation of what crazy kind of thought process my mind goes through is this: You go through the crappy relationships because each person basically builds your character. Each ex essentially leaves a part of themselves with you and their presence in your life makes you the person you are to become once you finally meet “the one.” So really, every failed relationship isn’t a failed one after all because each one contributes to the ending/beginning of your life’s love story.

“You have to kiss a thousand toads before finding your prince,” or something like that.

I had a point at the beginning, but I’m sure it got lost within this crazy mess. Oh well, there it is. Take it or leave it.