Entering Relationships with Baggage

According to this blog post from an Australian journalist, we carry a lot of baggage with us that will affect our future relationships. Namely: If our first love broke our heart we have trouble loving again. One has to wonder if this is true. Can we develop a sense of self so strong that our past cannot affect us? Or is the nature of love so intense that our first love really does affect how we live our life long after they are gone? Over at Spiritual Relationships we have been talking a lot about improving your inner-self to the point where your past does not affect you - where you have an internal locus of control and external events do not shape you. How much strength do we really have to break free of that strongest of human emotions, love?