Movies are great. They’re perfect for a barkada sleepover, but also for unwinding when home alone. They are staples for dates, but also hugot companions after a breakup. They’re more than just entertainment because they inspire and challenge us. They can help us believe in love, but they also leave us sobbing our hearts out.  Plus, we’ve found that there’s a lot we can learn about love—and life!—from watching movies. Check out a few lessons on loving (and in some cases, letting go) that we learned from our favorite movies:

1. Love finds you when you least expect it.—Leap Year (2010)

You might think the guy you’re with now is the right person for you, but this isn’t always the case, and you may not even realize it. Somehow, life has a way of turning things around, and you could end up unexpectedly finding your forever love. Love will hit you in the face, and everything will just fall into place. In Leap Year, Anna finds the person truly meant for her while on the way to propose to her current boyfriend. The movie teaches us how powerful destiny is and how love will truly find a way.

2. Trust is the foundation of every successful relationship.—The Lake House (2006)

A relationship is nothing without trust. Even friendship is nothing without trust. Kate and Alex’s pen-pal-with-a-twist relationship in the movie The Lake House is the perfect example of this. Imagine being in love with someone from a different time and just communicating with him/her through letters! Still, they are able to make it through, and it couldn’t have been possible if they hadn’t trusted and believed in the things they wrote to each other.

3. Love should make you want to be a better person and give you the confidence to live your dreams.—Titanic (1997)

The right kind of love shouldn’t make you feel alone,miserable, or locked down. It is supposed to make the world so much better! In Titanic, despite going through a tragedy and losing the man she loves, Rose decides to carry out the plans she made with Jack because she knows he loved her and would have wanted her to do so. Loving someone and knowing that they love you back will give you the strength to take on anything and live your dreams. And even if one of you can’t be present anymore, it doesn’t mean those dreams should be abandoned.

4. Sometimes, love just isn’t enough.—The Bridges of Madison County (1995)

Yes, we know this love lesson is something that’s inspired many a lyricist. But it’s true that love can come for you at the wrong time in your life. That could mean having to walk away from the love you’ve found. In The Bridges of Madison County, Francesca almost decides to run away with her four-day lover, Robert, but after thinking about everything she would have to leave behind, she decides to stay instead. Sometimes what we want for ourselves isn’t exactly the right thing and we have to think of the other people that might get affected by our actions and not just our burning desire for someone.

5. Love is a gift, to be appreciated and respected.—Gone with the Wind (1939)

Sometimes we can be so preoccupied with other things or people that we might neglect seeing the efforts of those who truly love us. In the Hollywood classic Gone with the Wind, Scarlett fails to see how much Rhett Butler loves her. He wanted to give her the world, but she is just too busy running after someone else. Unfortunately, she realizes where love lies too late and Rhett famously just doesn’t give a damn anymore by the time she comes to treasure his love as she ought.

6. “Happily ever after” is a journey, not a destination.—Two for the Road (1967)

Most movies show us the road to the fairy tale ending, but what happens after that? There is a reason why Pre-Cana seminars are a requirement for many weddings here, and movies like Two for the Road show us why. But we’re not being pessimistic here. Like anything else that involves human interaction, no marriage is perfect, and it’s important that, as a couple, you are ready to face the challenges to come, even if that challenge is to keep the romance alive in your marriage (even after you’ve become a parent, for example). The vows read “for better or worse,” not “during good times only.”

7. True love means accepting people just the way they are.—Pretty Woman (1990)

Being in love means loving the person for who he or she is,flaws and all. In the movie Pretty Woman, Vivian finds love with Edward, even though they coming from two entirely different worlds. Love, after all, is about acceptance. You love the person’s past and present, and you want to be with them in the future. You shouldn’t get into a relationship because you want to change the person, but because you want to be with the person as they are now.

8. Sometimes you have to love yourself enough to know when you need to move on.—P.S. I Love You (2007)

Well in the case of P.S. I Love You, the guy dies, but the whether it’s a breakup, a consistently bad relationship, or even a death that makes you realize it’s time to move on, the message remains the same. There’s no point in sulking and living in the past! As a modern Filipina, you owe it to yourself to pick yourself up again after a love tragedy. After all, there is a whole world waiting to be discovered, and we should not allow ourselves to be defeated, even if you aren’t quite ready to look for love again.

9. Sometimes you’ll find love has been right beside you (or in front of you) all along.—13 Going on 30 (2004)

We search far and wide for our one true love, but sometimes, we look too far. In 13 Going on 30, Jenna Rink doesn’t realize the worth of her best friend, Matty, and his feelings for her until later in the film. While boy-next-door love stories don’t happen all the time, especially in real life, it’s something to think about. He could just be around the corner, and he should not be taken for granted.

10. Love is many things, but it’s never selfish.—Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961)

Holly Golightly may not be the easiest person to love, but Paul and Doc Golightly love her anyway. In the movie, Paul has to hold back his feelings for a significant amount of time while Holly continues her high-flying ways in New York’s social scene. Her ex-husband, Doc, on the other hand, has to decide to give her up so she could continue the life she lived in New York. Even though she eventually realizes she truly loves Paul, it took a lot of sacrifice and selflessness for him to get her to see him truly.

There are hundreds of other movies with a thousand stories and lessons to tell. You just have to sit back, relax and see what they are. Love is a truly beautiful thing and something one should take care of. We should be glad that movies are here to give us a glimpse (even if its a glorified version at times) of this experience. Do you have a favorite love lesson you learned from a movie? Comment to share.