lesson one

In no particular order (other than how I came up with them), lessons I have learned from past relationships.

Lesson One: There is a thin line between being selfless/generous and being taken advantage of and milked dry.

When I am with a girl, I am with her all the way. If she needs something and I got it, consider it done. My thing is, if we are together, when we are together. I give freely of my time and resources. Yet, my generosity has led me to being taken advantage of in more ways than one. People truly take my kindness for weakness.

My ex (shall we call her Casino) took full advantage of my generosity. She took and took. If I can be completely honest, I was all too happy to give. All I wanted was to be able to keep a smile on her face. After being with her for 4.5 years, I have learned when to put my foot down and close my wallet. I am generous. I was raised to freely give. However, I know I have to be more careful with whom I lavish with my resources.

I thought my ex was The One. At the end of this series, yall are gonna want to kick my ass like the rest of my friends. I don't know why. I just did, dang! :) Anyway, where was I going? What was my point? Oh, a list! Things I did for my ex that I probably should not have. (Shut up! I was in love.) Let's get it!

--spent $270+ on her glasses and eye exam

--got a job at the campus bookstore so we could get a discount on books, buy ALL her books, and she never pays me back

--work two jobs while going to school full time to help her pay for her degree

--help her pay for her degree

--send her to South Africa for her 30th birthday because she wanted to do something "big"

--arrange for her to go with me to Morocco, free of charge

--pass up a trip to France because she didn't want to go

--pay insurance on her car

--buy her a new laptop when my own was kaput, then listen to her complain when I finally bought myself one, a year later

--help her pay for her degree (I had to say it twice because that's just how much money I put out) and she leaves me the October after we graduate

Being taken for a ride hurts and

Makes. No. Sense.