Dear Someone: Your heart deserves the right to believe that while some people may hurt you, others will heal you.
Read this if past heartbreak has made you build walls so high that you're afraid to let anyone new into your heart, convinced that everyone will eventually hurt you just like they did.
Dear, Dear Someone, _
Your heart has weathered storms. It has known the sharp edges of betrayal, felt the cold winds of abandonment, and carried the weight of broken promises. Like a careful gardener who has watched their most precious flowers destroyed by frost, you've built greenhouse walls around your heart - thick, transparent barriers that let you see out but keep others from getting in.
These walls weren't built in a day. They rose slowly, brick by brick, with every tear shed, every trust broken, every promise unfulfilled. Each disappointment added another layer, each betrayal another lock. Now they stand so tall that even the warmest sunshine struggles to reach your heart's garden.
But what if these walls, meant to protect you, are actually becoming your prison? What if in trying to keep pain out, you're also keeping love away? What if in defending against hurt, you're denying yourself joy?
Think of trust like rainfall. Yes, sometimes it brings storms that can damage and destroy. But without it, nothing grows. Without it, the most beautiful flowers of connection never bloom. Without it, your heart's garden remains a desert - safe perhaps, but barren.
One person's winter shouldn't make you fear all seasons. One person's darkness shouldn't make you doubt every light. One person's failure shouldn't make you lose faith in every promise. Their actions speak of their character, not of love's potential. Their choices reflect their journey, not your worth.
Remember: Every heart that beats has known pain. Every soul that loves has risked hurt. Every person who smiles today has cried yesterday. Yet somehow, people still fall in love. Somehow, trust still builds bridges between lonely islands. Somehow, hearts still find the courage to open again.
Your caution isn't weakness - it's wisdom earned through experience. But don't let it become the architect of your isolation. Don't let past hurts become the blueprint for your future. Don't let someone else's chapter become your entire story.
Healing isn't about forgetting the storms; it's about learning to dance in the rain again. It's about understanding that while some people may bring hurricanes, others bring gentle spring showers that nurture growth. It's about knowing that you're strong enough to weather any storm, but you don't have to spend your life expecting one.
Consider this: Every person who has earned your trust despite your walls has proven that genuine connection exists. Every smile that has warmed your heart despite your guardedness has shown that joy persists. Every moment of peace you've found in someone's presence has demonstrated that safety is possible.
The walls you've built are testimony to your survival, but they needn't be your forever home. Perhaps it's time to transform them - not to demolish them completely, but to build windows where there were once only bricks. Perhaps it's time to install doors that you control, that you can choose to open when trust has been earned.
Trust isn't an all-or-nothing game. It's a garden that grows slowly, tended by time and nurtured by consistent care. It's okay to start small. It's okay to trust gradually. It's okay to have boundaries while still leaving room for possibility.
Your heart deserves more than eternal winter. It deserves the chance to feel springtime again. It deserves the opportunity to bloom in someone else's warmth. It deserves the right to believe that while some people may hurt you, others will heal you.
Take down your walls brick by brick, just as you built them. Let trust grow like morning glory - slowly climbing up and over, bringing color back to your world. Let hope peek through the cracks like persistent wildflowers, proving that life finds a way even in the most guarded places.
Your capacity to love hasn't diminished; it's just waiting for permission to shine again. Your ability to trust hasn't died; it's just resting until you're ready to exercise it again.
Life's greatest treasures often lie on the other side of our fears.
With faith in your heart's resilience and renewal,
—Ali Papa.
Author of Letters of Woe​ and an ever-growing library of books
Conveyor of the Vistas of Hope Newsletter​
Shepherd of Wayward Wanderer
P.S. — The same heart that was strong enough to survive being broken is strong enough to learn to love again.
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