In the last few years, I too, have made a conscious choice to seek quality and honest interactions above all else. I have grown quiet and reserved, and increasingly more reticent with those around me.

I may not know everything, but I do know, if given the chance, people will use and exploit your emotions for their own personal gain. When that's a lesson you learn the hard way, life changes. You change.

It is a good thing...to be more careful with self, and to demand more from the others you let into your life. But, it does create a type of loneliness.

A constant, quieter, less rowdy type of loneliness that hugs you daily, like that cheap, clingy sweater you found one day years ago, on the clearance rack under a K-Mart blue light special. It doesn't fit, and it feels awkward, but it's warm. And safe. And for some reason you can't put your finger on, you are loathe to remove.

Maybe at some point, when I find I can honestly trust again, and with that, the return of the happiness I lost once upon a time, maybe it will all be worth it. Who knows. Until then, I'll remain quiet and withdrawn, and I'll continue to wear the proverbial sweater.

Finding yourself is what gives happiness depth. That internal happiness is so calming it makes it easier to share happiness with others.