I think it's great to get close to others. Without it we might not get specifically hurt by a potential action of their's, but we'd always hurt because we never feel a closeness or connection?

Yes, when we get close we can be vulnerable to hurt and I think others have addressed that very well...boundaries and expectations being so important as we let down walls we replace with appropriate boundaries and expectations.

Still yet, we're gonna get hurt at times. If we look at the intent and it wasn't bad, it's on us how we deal with the hurt? That was the biggie for me, the hurt triggered past hurt and it became this huge snowball spiraling downhill.

That's where it was important for me to clearly see and work with my past so I could see my present much more clearly and realistically. It can be done.

KD