Some of us are born this way, but most of us become heavily guarded as a result of multiple heartbreaks and disappointments.

Many people mistake being guarded with being fragile. I don't think that the girl who guards her heart is fragile or weak by any means. On the contrary, I think she's the girl with unbelievable strength. This is the girl who has been through the worst, but still pushes herself to be the best. That's why she guards her heart, because she has fought to be where she is today and she values her progress far too much to risk even a step backwards. She doesn't exclusively guard her heart with love interests and relationships, but with friends and people who try to enter her life as well. The truth about the girl with the guarded heart is that she encloses herself in these giant walls she creates as a defense mechanism against the world. Her concept of faith is broken, and her ability to trust wholeheartedly is wounded. She is tough but scared of being hurt or let down. The truth about the girl who has learned to guard her heart, is that she fears vulnerability.

Being vulnerable is terrifying. The ability to allow yourself to be vulnerable is a strength and an asset, but a huge fear for the girl with the guarded heart. Vulnerability threatens those walls that stand tall around her heart. Those walls were built on a foundation of hurt, disappointment, and self-made promises vowing to protect her happiness. These walls she has put around herself should not indicate that she is damaged. They are a sign of her hard earned strength and determination to push forward every day. These walls may have been up for a long time, but they aren't completely permanent. The right person will come along and restore faith for her, and she will somehow learn to trust.

The truth about the people who love the girl with the guarded heart, is that they are extraordinary. They are meant to come along and prove to her that she doesn't have to be so guarded. They come along to help protect her hopes, dreams, and happiness, ridding those self- formed barriers of their purpose in her life. The people who value her in such a way keep her fears of vulnerability at bay, and have the strength to break through the walls that guard her. They show her that she doesn't have to be so tough all the time, and that those walls that were meant to protect her happiness are the very walls that have obstructed her from feeling it to the utmost level.

The truth about the walls that she has built for herself, is that while they may have kept her fears at a distance, they have also kept people and wonderful feelings at a distance as a result. No one wants to hurt. No one wants to feel disappointment or to have their trust broken. By shielding yourself from the possibility of being betrayed or let down, you're sheltering yourself from feeling and experiencing beautiful things. You're shutting people out and you're closing yourself off from feeling. You don't want to be numb. The girl who guards her heart doesn't want to entrust others. She doesn't want to depend on others for her happiness, and I don't consider that a bad thing. However, she is unknowingly depriving herself behind her walls, and that is a problem. Her fears of vulnerability obstruct opportunities for prosperity and that in itself is contradictory to her intent of bettering herself.

The truth about the girl who is guarded, is that she is a strong, independent, and ambitious girl. She wants to be happy and successful, and to protect herself from anything that could come along and threaten that. She has fought long and hard to be in a good place, or she is in the process of fighting that battle, and she fears setbacks or people with bad intentions. You won't understand her because she doesn't completely understand herself. She is closed off to the world, and doesn't like to reveal any signs of weakness. The thing that may be most notable about this guarded girl, is that she is strong enough to take those walls down for the person who is worthy of such a trusting act. Behind those walls is truly a girl wanting to be shown that those walls don't have to be so strong. This girl is tough, but the truth is, she is hoping to find the person who is meant to restore her faith and put her fears of vulnerability to rest.