Beyond First Love – Unfiltered Lessons on Womanhood

“I once believed love would be burning red, but it’s golden, like daylight.”

Aahh, first love! The very love that shapes a woman’s heart, the very love that reveals the complexities of her heart, and the very love that sparks a flutter of butterflies in her heart for the very first time.

When was the last time you thought about your first love… not just the person, but the version of yourself that loved them? The girl who believed in “forever” before she knew what heartbreak felt like. The girl who loved with her whole heart, unguarded and unprepared for how much it would hurt.

First love has a way of leaving its fingerprints on us. It’s raw, wild, and colorful but it’s also one of life’s greatest teachers. It shows us what love is… and what it isn’t. It teaches us how to give, how to let go, and most importantly, how to love ourselves.

At first, she thought moving to Mars would be her "clean slate" - a fresh start away from the love she couldn't forget. But it’s funny how feelings don’t obey distance. She left Earth behind, but her heart carried everything with it. In the middle of an unfamiliar planet, surrounded by new challenges and strangers, she finds herself confronting the memories she tried to outrun.

This blog isn’t about heartbreak. It’s about becoming. It’s about the unfiltered, sometimes messy, and always transformative journey of womanhood that begins long after the first love ends.

The Illusion of “Forever” – What First Love Promises but Can’t Deliver

They tell you that first love will change you, but they don’t tell you how. They don't warn you about how you’ll pour your heart into something so fragile, believing it could last forever. Rebecca believed it too. Her first love was like a meteor… bright, burning, and gone before she could hold it long enough to understand it. But she believed in it, like we all do. Because that’s what first love teaches us: how to believe in something bigger than ourselves.

First Love Often Doesn’t Last, But Its Lessons Do

Forever isn’t promised, and love doesn’t always stay. And when it ends, it’s easy to feel like you’ve failed. It’s easy to think, "If I had done something differently, maybe it would have lasted."

But the truth is, first love isn’t supposed to last. It’s supposed to teach. Rebecca learns this the hard way, as many of us do. The boy she trusted with her heart couldn’t hold it with the care it deserved. And that’s not her failure… that’s life (and it’s unfair).

The lesson here? Love doesn’t have to last to be real. It doesn’t have to end perfectly for it to have meant something. Love is a mirror, and when it breaks, you still see yourself in the reflection. But this time, you see more of yourself than you did before.

They will leave, but the love will stay… in every lesson, every scar, and every piece of you that will grow stronger

The Hardest Goodbye – Why First Love Hurts the Most

Saying goodbye to first love feels like saying goodbye to a version of yourself. Rebecca’s heartbreak isn’t just about the boy… it's about the loss of belief, trust, and innocence.

The hardest part isn’t the person you’re losing, it’s letting go of the dream you built with them. All those plans for “someday” that suddenly vanish. Yes, heartbreak isn’t just about that person. It is about facing the quiet realization that the person you thought you’d always be with, no longer exists. And that hurts in a way that words don’t always capture.

The Moment You Chose Yourself Over Everything Else

Heartbreak is a beginning, not an end.

It’s where you learn to choose yourself, even when no one else does. The quiet nights, the heavy tears that feel endless, the moments where you question your own worth… that’s where real growth begins. You don’t just heal; you rebuild. And isn’t that the real meaning of womanhood? Not perfection, but perseverance.

Yes, you will cry, quite a lot and for sure, your heart will feel like a canvas of black and white… but sometimes, you have to walk through the darkness to paint your world in vibrant colors again.

How First Love Teaches Self-Love

They don’t tell you that the most important love story you’ll ever have is the one with yourself. Rebecca’s journey is proof of this. After heartbreak, she begins the long and quiet process of learning how to love herself; not in a flashy “self-care” kind of way, but in the quiet, everyday choices that remind her she’s worthy.

The Hardest Love to Give Is the One You Give Yourself

Loving yourself isn’t easy. It’s not about face masks or spa days. It’s about learning to be kind to yourself on the days when you feel unworthy. It’s about talking to yourself like you would a friend.

Rebecca doesn’t master this overnight, and neither do we will. It takes time, patience, and a lot of unlearning. But every choice you will make, every time you will choose yourself over someone who just don’t know how to carry your fragile heart, you will see your worth… And that worth will help you in becoming something STRONGER!

This is where true love begins… not with someone else, but with yourself. First love shows us how to give, but self-love teaches us how to stay.

Why Life on Mars or Love in 3D by Sana Budiak Is the Story Your Heart Needs

Life on Mars or Love in 3D by Sana Budiak isn’t just a love story… it’s a journey of love, loss, and self-discovery. Rebecca’s quiet courage to walk away from love that doesn’t honor her and choose self-love instead is deeply human and unforgettable. Her story reflects the raw, unpolished reality of love… heartbreak, letting go, and rebirth. It’s every woman’s story.

Sana Budiak’s words cut deep, capturing the beauty and pain of transformation. Her stories aren’t just told - they’re felt.

Love doesn’t have to stay to matter, and sometimes, the most powerful love story is the one you have with yourself.

"If you’ve ever felt like first love was supposed to be everything, but it left you feeling like nothing, this book will remind you that you were never nothing. You were always everything."

She writes with empathy and emotional depth. Her stories are real, raw, and unforgettable.

Life on Mars or Love in 3D is a powerful reminder that every ending is a beginning. Let Rebecca’s journey inspire you to believe that you are always worthy of more. Get your copy today.

The Love That Stays…….

No doubt, first love is unforgettable, not because of the person, but because of the way it changes you. It breaks you, it shatters you, it disrupts you but it also builds you. It introduces you to love, but it also introduces you to yourself.

Rebecca’s journey is a reflection of our own. Through her, we see that the real love story isn’t about the person we loved first… it’s about the person we became because of it.

Every version of you… the girl who believed in "forever," the woman who felt the weight of goodbye, and the soul who learned to stand alone - deserves to be loved. Not just by someone else, but by YOU.

And if you ever doubt that, remember this:

“You’re on your own kid, you always have been”