I believe forgiving yourself, accepting yourself, requires you to lower your guards. Guards we put up, because we thing, they will help us survive. The tricky part is, they may actually do that, the the same guards disconnects us from ourselves and the people around us.

And because we all need to feel safe, these walls or shield we put up, can be pretty scary to tear down. The put the up for a reason. To me understand why I put my own up, let me to understand, how hard they are taking down and how they both helped and hurt me.

Mine are still up, but I'm aware of them and if I can't completely remove them, my awareness allows me to work around the,