Afraid of Love
-When we fall, we give it all.-

We, the sensitive, the delicate of heart. When we fall for someone, we fall, heart, mind, body, soul. We don't hold anything back. We give so much more than sex or companionship. We give everything we are, with no reservations.
After many years of life, we know this about ourselves. Some of us become bitter. We become guarded, suspicious of anyone who shows an interest. We hide our hearts away. Putting them 'out there' only invites more abuse, more heartache, being taken for granted.
The last time....Our lover takes our support for granted. They sometimes take out their frustration on us.
We "understand". We don't take it personally, because we've "lost" ourselves.
We haven't "lost" ourselves. We've *given* ourselves away.
Our lover has become everything. They are our universe, our reason for living. We don't know what we would do, who we would be, without them.
We have said to ourselves, too many times, "Oh! That really hurt! But she/he was upset about xyz. They didn't 'really mean it'. I'll just love them harder, love them more, and it will be okay." Then we put it far into the back of our minds. It's too painful to think about...
When our lover is good, is kind and gentle, we are high on love, feeling that "this is really them. The person I fell in love with!" We're giddy with the pleasure, the attention, the "love".
Then comes the time we begin to realize that the lack of attention, the…