How long should we wait before we let our guard down? Should we ever let it down completely? The past has shown me that you meet someone, you slowly let your guard down and then once you feel like you are in a safe place the rug is pulled from under your feet and you are back to where you started—alone and confused. When this happens it feels like you need to put your guard up even higher and when you do this you risk being too defensive and pushing someone away. Its a double edged sword. How much should a person really put up their guard for the sake of emotional protection and is there ever a time when the guard can be taken down completely. When put in a situation of romantic possibility should we tell someone that we have a guard up or is this offensive? We have all been hurt and it has been so cliche to say this when it comes to not wanting to further a relationship or wanting to take things at a snails pace. Should we base our past hurting on future relationships or should we erase the slate completely and always start new and fresh. All people are different right? Should we compare the new to the old?