While the divorce rate of first marriages in the U.S. is 43%, the rate for second marriages is 67%, and for third marriages, a whopping 73%. Sounds pretty grim. But like any life event, second and third marriages come with both dangers and opportunities.

Here are 5 of the most common ones:

We all bring our childhood wounds into a committed relationship. Still, if you’ve been divorced, another layer is added: You’re ex cheated on you or was emotionally abusive or a control freak that you bring into your new relationship.

Dangers: You’re understandably hypersensitive to these issues, easily triggered, and maybe overreactive—obsessively jealous or fiery about control, creating a new set of problems in your new relationship.

Opportunity: We often don’t drift that far from home base. Our new partners are often similar to our past ones, with some of the rough spots smoothed down—flirtatious but not cheating, can get angry but never abusive. Sometimes, these upgraded partners make just enough difference to help break the old cycles. You get triggered but feel safe enough to speak up or push back and do what you couldn’t in the past. And this changes not only the relationship but also you. You stop repeating history; your old wounds begin to heal.

If you settle into a committed relationship less than a........

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