There is a lot of risk to being vulnerable, no doubt.

When I've faced this, the image I have is that I am handing my T pristine glass that has already been shattered several times by others, that is being held together delicately. There are times she has dropped it. Sometimes it feels like she's dropped it then stomped on it for good measure. But at times I have to reframe that in my head, because whenever it's dropped, she is always the one there helping me piece it back together. She's always trying to make it stronger than it was before. She never intended to drop it, or 'stomp on it', but it is SO fragile, sometimes the pieces slip between her fingers. But every time she's the one "on the floor" with me helping me get it back together.

You're right. It's absolutely a risk to take to put your heart out there, when it's already raw and bruised. She may drop it. But you have to ask yourself: What am I gaining from this?

An example (tho maybe a poor one) is when we learn to ride our bike, what happens? Mom gets us on there, holds on, and sometimes lets us go and...... ka-splat. She let go sooner than she said, she accidently aimed us right towards a tree, etc. We get bruises, and sores, and quite upset. But, do we stop trying to ride forever? Because the pay off to keep going is one day, you will ride on your own and have that sense of freedom without 'training wheels'.

Is the potential pay off worth the risk?