Are you blocking relationships too?

Somewhere early in life I decided I did not live in a safe world because the people in it could hurt me. And the closer someone got to me, the more likely they could (and would) inflict pain on me.

I saw only one solution to this problem. I just can’t let anyone get close to me. It’s the only way I’m going to survive. I’ll pretend when I have to, but deep down inside, there’s no way I can let someone into my heart. One of the first movies I ever saw on TV showed a man crying because he couldn’t be with the woman he loved.

“That will never happen to me,” I vowed. “Relationships are nothing but pain.”

As you may have noticed, those childhood choices and decisions — made with such intensity and determination — usually last a lifetime. It’s rare…