The Teeter Totter

Good is defined by bad, happy by sad, patience by anger, and joy by despair. When you feel one of these things, odds are that the opposite is right around the corner.

Positive feelings don't always end immediately, but the higher you jump, the harder you fall. When you first meet a potential interest, you usually don't feel one way or another. A person's company may be intriguing after one conversation, but if you never speak again, the most emotional word you'll utter will be "bummer." The more time you spend together and the stronger good feelings become, the more those bad feelings start preparing their snarls, too. When you're on cloud 4, the bad feelings on the ground are just tall weeds that will require some detangling, should you fall off that cloud. By the time you reach cloud 9, the bad feelings are something from the Little Shop of Horrors, waiting for you to plummet into their freaky little mouths.

The classic elimination-limo cry (Jillian, Season 13)

An expedited journey to infatuation and its partner-in-crime, heartbreak, can be seen on ABC's The Bachelor. Twenty-five women in the best shape of their lives show up at a mansion, ready to fall in love. They have to know that their chances are only 24-1, right? Still, all of them are convinced that this one man holds the key to their happy endings. Seven girls are eliminated the first night, most parting with words like "It's a shame we didn't talk more tonight" or "We'll  never know what could have been." Sure, there's usually a cryer or two, but that has more to do with their low body fat percentage mixed with an open bar rather than feelings of loss over the bachelor. By weeks four and five, the girls are a little more invested and leave with a little more mascara on their faces. When the last few episodes roll around, we see giddy flirtation and starry-eyed fawning, followed by full-on hysteria as girls hiccup their way through the limo ride to the airport.

Is it worth it? Is the good worth the possibility of the bad? Those of us in relationships or open to meeting new people have decided that the answer is "yes." Living life on the safe, middle road is a boring path to discontentment. No one likes when someone else has the power to tie his/her stomach in a knot, but that same person made him/her feel incredibly happy at some point, evoking feelings sweet enough to elicit a physical reaction when things start going sour. It's a trade off: butterflies in your stomach for a lump in your throat.

The good will always teeter with the bad, but the best part of the teeter totter is when you get stuck on top.