About this quote

First love often leaves a pattern that shows up in choices and how you let yourself feel. Notice when an old feeling steers your decisions — it can explain why you hold back or why certain places feel like home. Talk about it with the person you care about, or write it down so those emotions don't quietly dictate your life. Do one concrete thing: name the memory and decide if it should guide you now.

When to use it

• Before accepting a job transfer to another country, she told her manager, "I keep thinking about my first love back home; I can't pretend those feelings won't shape my life here."
• Giving his graduation speech, he admitted, "I stayed in town after high school because of my first girlfriend — that feeling never really left me."
• At the family reunion while sorting old letters, my sister said, "Dad was right about first love; look at how this box still changes the way I remember him."
• Before the championship match he told his coach, "I still get distracted thinking about my first love sometimes, so I'm going to breathe and focus on the game."