I’ve been carrying this weight of shame with me most of my life. I recently heard a quote from Brené Brown that said “shame focuses on self while guilt focuses on behavior.”

Listen, opening up to love can feel terrifying because there’s always the risk of being hurt. But hurt comes even when you’re blocking yourself from the very thing that you’re trying to avoid. Sometimes the hurt is even worse because the rigid stance that we have to brace ourselves for the impact of hurt makes us more brittle and the propensity to crack is greater.