How Childhood Wounds Shape the Way You Love (and How to Rewrite the Story)

The innocent girl was never really you — she was your shield.

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The Innocent Girl Was a Survival Strategy

Deep down, you always knew. The “innocent girl” wasn’t your truest self — she was your armor.

You saw early how cruel love could be. You felt it in your childhood — in abandonment, betrayal, neglect, rejection. And your young mind made a pact:

“If I stay small, if I play innocent, if I am good enough — maybe I won’t get hurt.”

It was brilliant. It was protective. It worked for a while.

But it wasn’t you.

When the Shield Fails

The shield of innocence promised you safety.But shields don’t stop arrows from finding their way through the cracks.

So yes, you still got hurt. You still had your heart broken. You still carried wounds.

And maybe, for years, you blamed yourself for not being “good enough” or “innocent enough.”

But here’s the truth:

You didn’t fail. The shield was never meant to last forever.

It was only meant to get you through childhood.

You Are Not That Girl Anymore

The “innocent girl” did her job. She kept you alive. She gave you a sense of control in a world that felt unpredictable and unsafe.

But now? You’re not that little girl anymore. You’re not stuck in the same house, the same childhood, the same dynamics.

You are grown. You are powerful. And you don’t need innocence as a shield anymore.

Now, you have something far stronger: awareness.

The Power to Rewrite the Story

The heartbreaks of your past do not define you. The shield you wore does not define you.

What defines you now is your choice to rewrite the stories you carry about love.

• Love is not always abandonment.

• Love is not always betrayal.

• Love is not always pain.

The stories you tell yourself about love will shape the love you allow in. And you get to choose again.

“Your past may have written the first chapters, but your hand holds the pen now.”

A Journal Prompt to Begin

From The Introspectionista Journal:

“What story about love did my younger self write to protect me? And what new story do I want to write now?”

Sit with this. Write it out. Let yourself be messy. Cry if you must. Then breathe, and begin again.

Final Word

The innocent girl was never a lie — she was your shield.And she did her best.

But now, it’s your turn to step forward without her.Not unprotected, but finally authentic.

Because true love — self-love and the love you welcome — only arrives when you stop hiding behind shields.

Begin rewriting your story today. Download my free The Introspectionista Journal and start uncovering the wounds that shaped your shields — so you can finally let them go.

See you in the next post.

Liefs,

Eny