Your heart tells you one thing and you want to listen to it so badly, but your mind interferes and stops you. Your mind is the voice of reason, the voice of what should be right, but your heart wants to do things on its own terms.

Although you know you should listen to what the reasonable part of you is saying, you can’t help but listen to your emotions, to something you really want to do and not something you should do just because it’s right.

You got your heart broken so many times, so you built this cold and harsh exterior to prevent that from happening ever again. You’ve become strong and not because you wanted to, but because you had to.

Once, you wore your heart on your sleeve. Once, you gave everyone a second chance. Once, your soft heart was out there for everyone to see. But someone used your kindness and someone used your fragile and loving heart and they made you close up and hide in your own suffering.

You denied anyone from having just a peek into what was deep inside of you. You got scared of showing your feelings. You became guarded.

Your cold and harsh shell hides your vulnerability. You’ve put it on like a little black dress before going out. That is not you, it’s just how others see you. Yet, underneath that facade, there is still a girl who knows how to love. There is still a warm and caring person with a soft heart, waiting to love someone differently.

1. You know how to appreciate happiness because you’ve seen sorrow

The only thing you ever wanted to do is to make others happy. You wanted to help the ones who needed you and you always gave yourself entirely, because you knew you could help. You opened your heart and you let everyone in. That way, you made their day, and you helped them with their problems, which made you feel better, too.

But a lot of them used your kindness and your good heart. A lot of them leeched off you when they needed you, and then tossed you aside when they were done. A lot of them broke your fragile little heart.

2. You’ve built walls around yourself for a reason

You’re not going to let your guard down so easily now. You’ve been broken and hurt once and that was enough to lock yourself away from the world. It’s easy to act like you don’t have any feelings; it’s easy to pretend like nothing bothers you.

But if someone sticks around long enough, if someone sees right through you and knows you’re the complete opposite on the inside than from what they see on the outside, then your walls will go down. You will tear them down, because you can’t act like something you’re not for too long.

3. You use deeds and not words

Words don’t mean anything to you, not anymore. You’ve heard so much, you’ve been promised so much, and none of it came true. You don’t believe what others say to you and you don’t say anything yourself either. Deeds are what count and you know that.

It is hard for you to tell someone how much you love them but that’s why you are going to show it instead now. You will surprise him when he least expects it, you will send him a text out of the blue or you’re going to buy him some candy just because you are thinking of him.

4. You are guarded, but you still believe in love

It’s not that you don’t want to love anyone ever again. Secretly, you dream of meeting your true love and you are think about the two of you fitting perfectly together. You silently ache for love, the love that will break the harshness of your face and let the softness of your heart take over.

You were broken before, but when the right man comes along, you will give yourself to him and show him that underneath that rough exterior, there is an enormous heart and beauty to love.

5. There is a lot more to you than anyone can see

People misjudge you all the time. As soon as they see you, they say you’re cold-hearted. They say you don’t have any feelings whatsoever. Then, they don’t even care about whether they hurt you or not, because they assume nothing can touch you. They couldn’t be more wrong.

Some people, like you, hide their goodness and softness and that can even be a good thing, because only the right man will figure out that your harsh exterior is just a tool to mask your soft heart. So why bother with the ones who think you’re simply cold and nothing more?