Bertrand Russell wrote, “Of all forms of caution, caution in love is perhaps most fatal to true happiness.”
No one wants to suffer a broken heart. To protect our most vulnerable feelings, some of us approach the encompassing circle of love gingerly, as if with one foot in and the other out. We may be willing to sort of care for someone, but only if we know we can get over it, sometimes simply by meeting another who seems more appealing.
If we mistake surrender for defeat, then commitment and devotion feel more like being caged than like coming home. To guard ourselves from the pain of abandonment or betrayal, we may refuse to put our hearts in the hands of another. But when we avoid accepting anyone as our beloved, we sacrifice softness and warmth that cannot come from loving cautiously.
Broken hearts mend, but the emptiness of untested love leaves a hole in the soul that may never be filled.