Going through a breakup is hard, and unless you marry the first person you make out with, you are bound to go through one at least once. Some relationships end because of cheating, distance or the simple fact that you two grew apart. You may hate your ex, still love them, are still friends or haven’t spoken in ages, but the truth is, the time you were in a relationship with them was special. Things may have ended well or horribly, but nonetheless, you walked away knowing more about yourself than you did when you started the relationship. 

Here are the 12 things you should thank your ex for:

1. For the ladies- making you sit through hockey, football and basketball games because now you actually know what is going on and kind of enjoy it. Also, the players are really hot.

2. For the men- forcing you to clean your apartment, wash your dishes and do your laundry. It’s nice coming home to a clean and fresh-smelling home. 

3. Teaching you how to do something that they loved. You now learned a new skill or got a new hobby that you never even knew you could like. 

4. Opening you up to new ideas and opinions- even though they weren’t the same as yours. Your ex helped you see things from a new perspective. 

5. Taking you out of your comfort zone by taking you to new places, introducing you to new people and making you try new things. They opened up a whole new world for you to explore.

6. Teaching you exactly what you will and won’t put up with in a relationship. You now know that you are okay with them having opposite-gender friends, but not okay with them ignoring you when that friend is around. 

7. Supporting you when you needed it and teaching you how to stand on your own feet when you needed it. Sometimes you need a shoulder to cry on and sometimes you need a kick in the butt.

8. Finding out what you like or dislike in a partner. Humor= great. The fact that they hate your cat= not so great. 

9. Changing your mind on something. You always thought New York City was too crowded and smelly until they brought you to Central Park and totally changed your opinion. 

10. Giving you memories. As hard as it may be to think about it after the breakup, you two shared some amazing memories, and now whenever you hear a Maroon 5 song you smile because you two almost got kicked out of their concert for sneaking to the front row. 

11. Teaching you how to love and how to be loved. These things are harder than they sound and take a lot of practice. 

12. The breakup itself. If you did it or if they did it, the breakup-- as hard as it is at first-- will teach you how to go through something traumatic and come out on the other side a better, stronger person.