“Stop punishing yourself for being someone with a heart. You cannot protect yourself from suffering. To live is to grieve. You are not protecting yourself by shutting yourself off from the world. You are limiting yourself.”
— Leigh Bardugo
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"Stop punishing yourself for being someone with a heart. You cannot protect yourself from suffering. To live is to grieve. You are not protecting yourself by shutting yourself off from the world. You are limiting yourself." ❤️ Have you ever closed your heart off to avoid being hurt, only to realize you were missing out on joy too? Drop a "✨" if this beautiful reminder from Leigh Bardugo resonates with your soul today, and let's discuss emotional healing in the comments below.
About this quote
We often build walls around our hearts in a desperate attempt to shield ourselves from pain. When we have been hurt, it feels safer to retract, to quiet our empathy, and to treat our sensitivity as a flaw. But Leigh Bardugo’s profound words remind us that having a deeply feeling heart is not a defect—it is your greatest strength. To shut out pain is to inevitably shut out joy, connection, and the very essence of what makes life worth living. True emotional resilience doesn't come from avoiding grief; it comes from learning to flow with it. Grief and suffering are natural prices we pay for loving deeply, and trying to bypass them only traps us in a state of emotional stagnation. By choosing vulnerability over isolation, you reclaim your power. Embrace your sensitivity as a superpower, step out of the shadows of fear, and allow yourself to experience the full, beautiful spectrum of human emotion.
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Photo by Austin on Unsplash
