I AGREE WITH YOU FREEZE. WALLS ARE NO GOOD. MY WIFE ALWAYS PUTS THEM UP BETWEEN US DUE TO THINGS THAT HAPPENED IN HER PAST, AND DUE TO THE WAY HER FATHER TREATED HER MOTHER. IT HURTS US QUITE OFTEN AND DIMINISHES WHAT SHOULD BE SOME REAL GOOD TIMES.

I THINK EACH INDIVIDUAL NEEDS TO HANDLE A SITUATION LIKE THIS IN A WAY THEY ARE COMFORTABLE. AND ALTHOUGH I AGREE WITH YOU THAT KEEPING UP BOUNDRIES ARE NO GOOD, I THINK ONCE YOU HAVE BEEN HURT IT IS VERY DIFFICULT TO LET YOUR GUARD DOWN IN THE FUTURE. WE MAY KNOW WHAT THE RIGHT THING TO DO IS, BUT HAVE A HARD TIME FOLLOWING THROUGH ON IT. IT CAN BE VERY FRIGHTNING.

WE ARE ALL HUMAN AND WANT TO PROTECT OURSELVES. BUT TO FIND TRUE HAPPINESS WE NEED TO BE OPEN AND HONEST, WHICH CAN LEAD TO HURT. IT'S A VICIOUS CYCLE.

		Deep Freeze wrote:
		Interesting comments. I have mentioned the pain of love often. I think it is a part of life. I have always been the other way, in that I will allow love to find me and I do not create walls. Of course, I have experienced the very pain that you all fear so much. Yet, I am here. I live! I muddled through my darkest hour and I came away a better person. We are all tempered by pain, just as metal is tempered through the flame. Heartbreak is as much a part of living as are death and taxes. I should think that my life would have been far less enjoyable had I avoided finding true love simply out of fear that I could be hurt.