If you are currently in a dating relationship, ask yourself how you would view your boyfriend if you were an outsider looking in. Are you sticking around because you’re needy?
Because of fear? The people with the biggest needs or fears are usually the ones who fill their lives with the biggest Mr. Wrong.
Also, our judgment in relationships disappears when sex is thrown into the mixture. Once the powerful and pleasurable ingredient of sex is added, we tend to overlook even basic flaws—until the passion subsides, of course. But by then it can be too late. By then, your emotions are knotted tight.
Real Life “Love”
The messages in teen magazines for young girls are obvious: Winning a boyfriend is crucial, so you need to dress skimpy, approach guys boldly and don’t think twice about going all the way!
Yet what does that mean in real life? It may mean broken hearts and bad reputations. It may mean unplanned pregnancies or sexually transmitted diseases. One statistic even states that unmarried, teenage girls who are sexually active are three times more likely to be depressed than girls who are not sexually active! Also, girls who are sexually active are almost three times more likely to attempt suicide than are girls who are not sexually active.
Also, most sexually transmitted diseases cannot be cured. The symptoms can be managed, but the disease itself will be with you forever. And you will pass it on when you meet the person you want to spend your life with.
Excerpted with permission from Teen Mom
Janet Perez Eckles 
Shawn Akers 
Abby Trivett 
