Giving Your Heart Away

I've had lots of good friends over the years.

And I've LOST lots of good friends over the years.

People I love are taken away for jobs or love or personal pursuits. Circumstances change. Misunderstandings and hurt feelings alter relationships. People come and go into our lives and personally, it's always rough on my heart.

In today's transient world, giving our hearts to others feels like too much to ask, so many of us don't. It's tempting to protect ourselves by guarding our emotions and not letting many people in. We're merely defending our sensitive hearts. If we're vulnerable, we're bound to get hurt. It's likely, of course and probably prudent to distance ourselves to prevent it, except for one thing.

We NEED other people. Something within us craves to be known. We desire others to come to us, to wonder what we think, to be interested in our lives. When we guard our hearts, protecting our real thoughts and feelings, saying what we should instead of what we really think, we don't give any indication of who we are or what is unique about us. We don't encourage inquiry.

And we suffer for it. We're left feeling very alone. We may be protecting ourselves from future hurt, but mostly we're depriving ourselves of present joy.

My life is richer because I've risked the pain, because I've let people in, shared personally and allowed myself to care. Yes, it has and will cause heartache, but I think it's worth it. As Tennyson said, "Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all."

Do you have trouble giving your heart away?



Photo Credit: bored-now