Patterns don’t lie As I replayed the past year in my mind, I realized this wasn’t really about one person. It was about patterns. Patterns I’d seen before. Patterns I’d ignored before. Patterns that quietly reveal themselves long before we’re willing to admit what we’re seeing. One lesson I’ve learned after years of disappointments, second chances, and old flames finding their way back into my life is this: Bringing the past into a new relationship almost never ends well. Sure… There are valuable lessons hidden in the wreckage. Blah, blah, blah. But nobody wants to hear how she bent over backward like an Olympic gymnast trying to make it work. We don’t need to know how much you spent on dinner with your last date… How perfect her smile was… Or how well-endowed he happened to be. Leave it where it belongs. In the past.