However, there is another consideration that many of us eventually learn - most of the time too late.  The lesson is painful.  Realistically, there are those who give - and those who just keep taking.  They take your soul, your heart, your money, your self-respect, your sense of clarity, and anything else you may have for the taking should it please them.  

Sometimes it is best to stop for a moment and determine if you are loving wisely.  Do the people you love really appreciate you?

In every one-to-one relationship, there should be a mutual respect, kindness, consideration, and mostly - an unconditional love of the other person.  If you have lived long enough, you know this isn't the equation.  Usually one loves and gives more than the other.  It all comes down to need and projection.  

If you think you need someone and that you cannot survive without them, you will likely give and love more.  Similarly, if you think your beloved possesses sterling qualities that you admire but don't have - you will tend to put him/her on a pedestal and do a lot of projection.   Interestingly, in order for you to even be aware of these qualities in another means that you have similar qualities; albeit perhaps latent and unexpressed.   

Both sexes share this dilemma.

So, how do you balance the ratio of give and take?   For starters, take off the "rose-colored" glasses.  See the person as he/she really is.  If you still want to pursue the relationship, you must be willing to love him/her totally without conditions.  To love unconditionally, you have to accept the good with the not so good in the person.   However, you must also determine if this person is willing to accept you for yourself.  If he/she does -  the relationship will succeed and survive because it has a solid foundation and both people are equally loved and respected.

Relationships are really a learning process.  When true love and caring exists, we can learn from each other.