"I would rather suffer for being a fool than a coward."
This is exactly it.
And as someone who lost her virginity at 14 in what was clearly in hindsight a sexual assault and then felt obligated to "put out" with anyone willing to date me after that assault was made gossip, but who actually still continued to fall in love with people both horrible and lovely (sometimes both at once) and even sometimes just felt really horny and thought it was love I have regrets almost opposite in nature to the advice seeker. And that's it, no one doesn't have regrets and more than most have many. But it's true that I don't regret the choice to be willing to offer my heart, even when it's returned. Sometimes in ashes. I'd say that the best relationships of my life were almost never with the lightening strikes magnetic attraction people. Those WERE some of the best sex in my life, but also the WORST sex in my life. I think as long as you find someone you respect and who respects you you will end up in a good place. That's really more important than anything else for addressing the fear you have of showing vulnerability, I think? And you have such an advantage to be more mature and capable of seeing respect more clearly than a teenager.
Khalil Gibran does a wonderful poem about living a half life or half truths! beautiful way of mustering up courage that we all need. Thank you for these insights 🦉
"I would rather suffer for being a fool than a coward."
This is exactly it.
And as someone who lost her virginity at 14 in what was clearly in hindsight a sexual assault and then felt obligated to "put out" with anyone willing to date me after that assault was made gossip, but who actually still continued to fall in love with people both horrible and lovely (sometimes both at once) and even sometimes just felt really horny and thought it was love I have regrets almost opposite in nature to the advice seeker. And that's it, no one doesn't have regrets and more than most have many. But it's true that I don't regret the choice to be willing to offer my heart, even when it's returned. Sometimes in ashes. I'd say that the best relationships of my life were almost never with the lightening strikes magnetic attraction people. Those WERE some of the best sex in my life, but also the WORST sex in my life. I think as long as you find someone you respect and who respects you you will end up in a good place. That's really more important than anything else for addressing the fear you have of showing vulnerability, I think? And you have such an advantage to be more mature and capable of seeing respect more clearly than a teenager.
Khalil Gibran does a wonderful poem about living a half life or half truths! beautiful way of mustering up courage that we all need. Thank you for these insights 🦉