High school is the zenith for unsuccessful relationships: finding the boy or girl of your dreams and running off into the sunset just before he/she breaks up with you for an ill-advised reason. It is not often where a high school relationship lasts or go nearly as far as you think. Most of the time, they crash and fall into the depths of your memories.

Relationships are a learning experience that are a great example of trial and error. You date a fellow teenager only to break up and find a new one, and this cycle repeats until you are old enough to get married.

I am definitely not saying that high school relationships are terrible, and that you should end yours immediately. What I am saying is that most teens make the mistake of letting their relationship become the center of their lives.

It is important to know how to balance your relationship and all of the other significant areas of your life such as school and your family because these things will immensely affect your future, depending on what you choose to make your top priority.

You may have this overwhelming feeling that your relationship is your life, and nothing else really matters anymore. This is not true. You will have to push that feeling aside and realize that you have a life separated from your boyfriend or girlfriend like family, friends, school, or your extra-curricular activities.

The first step in properly balancing all of these aspects of your life comes with discipline and choosing the thing you do not want to do over the thing that you do. For example, say you have a huge chemistry exam the following day, but you had scheduled to go to the movies with your significant other. At that time, the more sensible choice would be to study for your chemistry test, and reschedule the date with your significant other to a different day.

Along with ignoring school work, you may – whether it be self consciously or not – ignore your friends and make your  significant other the only person that you hang out with. This is not fair to your friends, and it is something that you need to nip in the bud if it does start to happen.            

Your friends and family are an important support system that provide a boost in confidence as well as a shoulder to cry on. But when you actively push them away because  you prioritize your significant other, then you lose the people who care about you from the start.

Luckily, this is an easy fix. All you have to do is switch off days or phone calls. Maybe one day go out to eat with your boyfriend or girlfriend and then next time hang out with your friends. Sacrifice that one day with the love of your life to be with someone who you can trust and confide in, or just kill two birds with one stone and plan to hang out together with your friends.

It is extremely unhealthy to focus on only one person all of the time and to ignore everyone else. This only leads to more pain and heartbreak in the end. You will never benefit from making your relationship the center of your life during your high school years.