Reckless Once. Careful Now… Because the kindest people learn to love carefully
This is a conversation that shows up often, when you are sitting with friends over coffee or a drink. Someone says you are so independent; and it sounds like praise. No one asks where it came from. Independence is not always a personality trait. It is something built slowly after being disappointed more times than expected. After showing up without it being returned. After learning how to hold yourself together in rooms where you really wanted to be held. Over time self-reliance feels safer than expectation. That is usually when trust begins to change. The people who say they have trust issues are often the kindest. They wear their heart on their sleeves. But, after being hurt in the same place too many times they stop loving recklessly. They begin loving carefully. Then there are those who say they do not expect too much. It sounds mature and grounded. Often it is protection. It is lowering the bar before someone else can drop it. It is telling yourself that less is enough...