I’m going out on a limb, but I fully expect most people over the age of 50 to have some sort of emotional baggage. For those who don’t know, emotional baggage is considered the feelings you have about your past and the things that have happened to you, which often have a negative effect on your behavior and attitudes. If you are single and over 50, yes, you have some baggage.
Unfortunately, most of the time this involves a romantic relationship. The heart is the most vulnerable part of a person’s overall make-up. You learn how to protect it. No one like a broken heart. Once it breaks, you start responding to any situation as if it will inevitably happen again.
Unfortunately, I believe the kindest hearted people are the ones who get hurt most. They are the ones who see only the good in people and believe the best in those around them. It isn’t that they ignore the negative…to them it simply does not exist. When the negative is clearly and painfully evident, it can be traumatizing. The Kind Hearted One didn’t see it coming, does not understand it, and is completely confounded by it. Often causes a new level of fear and a barrier that ultimately protects their heart so it doesn’t happen again.
Baggage - you expect the next person to do it to you again.
Walls - you don't get too close to anyone again so you don't get hurt.
By now I’ve learned some people are like cats. You don’t catch, or tame a feral cat. The cat decides if it wants to be caught or not, and will let you know if it considers your household a “safe” place. Cats know which houses set out extra food by the door, and if they want it…they will come around and get it.
But like any person feeding a feral cat…the cat doesn’t get to come inside the heartbeat of the home. Feral cats come around to the people they like, and if the owner of the home thinks the cat will stay around and can be happy there…maybe it gets to come inside. But you don’t want to get attached to a cat that has no intention, or is capable, of sticking around. You also don't want a cat only there for the free food. Besides, the food isn’t free, someone has to pay for it.
We learn lessons we need to go forward with our lives. Each lesson prepares us for the next level in life. We have to GO through difficulties in order to GROW through them. My lessons and heartaches were necessary to get me where I am today. And I love where I am today.
It's called Baggage and Walls.
We all have them. And that's OK. It means you care, have cared, are capable of caring, and want to care.
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