10 Things People Don’t Realize You’re Doing Because You’re Secretly Guarded

1. You filter the people who enter your life.

In your opinion, it’s not bad to be picky with who you welcome in your world. People have the immense power to influence you. And you never want to be surrounded by those who seem to be not inspiring and helping you become a more evolved person. You’d rather have a tight-knit group of friends, whom you know you can rely on any time of the day, than plenty of friends who don’t bother to really get to know you and understand you. It’s somehow a little bit easier to live life when you’re one hundred percent sure about who to turn to when big problems hit you like tidal waves.

2. You play as FBI agent and try to catch lies in a conversation.

Somebody taught you the trick and they warned you not to pay so much attention in catching lies, but you just can’t help it! There’s no way you can unlearn some FBI lie detection skills someone shared to you before. When the person in front of you starts speaking, your eyes automatically focus on their body languages and facial expressions. You notice the pause in their conversations with you, the tone of their voice, and the way they phrase their sentences. But as much as possible, you refrain yourself from analyzing people when they happen to be your family members or someone that you date.

3. You question someone’s intention.

There are some things people don’t tell you when you initially meet them — intent is one of them. There’s a reason why we want to be friends with someone. There’s a reason why we make deals with the other person. And most of the time, we keep these reasons to ourselves. It is important for you to read situations and people because it saves you the time and energy of mingling with the ones who don’t have good hearts. Once in a while, you ask yourself if people are being true or genuine with you. And often, your bullshit radar is strong enough to detect when someone isn’t being faithful.

4. You are not scared to walk away the second things go south.

As of today, the consensus says there are 7 billion people in this world. Not every one of those will become your favorite. You will be betrayed, cheated, and blindsided. You will be hurt because of them. But among those 7 billion people, there will be some of them who will try to earn your trust and make you believe in the kindness of humanity again. And that’s why you’re not skeptical to walk away when things mess up. Because you believe with your heart that, eventually, you will find the people who will never ever dare to manipulate you and badly lie to you.

5. You barely say a word to those that you don’t trust.

You know what they say…the less you talk, the less mistakes you make. Of course, this doesn’t apply when you’re with the people that you love or when you’re with your partner. But if the room gives you the kind of vibe like it’s a jungle full of wild animals, then you shut your mouth and you only mumble words when it’s necessary. You hate politics and everything about it. You rinse yourself off of people who ask shady questions. And you shut them down when they try so hard to get words from you that they can use for their advantage.

6. Your social media accounts are on lockdown.

The internet is forever, you know this. You’re aware that one offensive comment could ruin your reputation. And because of that risk, you choose to keep your social media accounts shared only with the people that are close to you. It doesn’t matter that you’re not getting thousands of reactions from every post that you make, so long as you have the peace of mind that nobody’s going to twist your thoughts and opinions about some things and make them viral.

7. You separate your personal life from your work life.

You’re very good at keeping your personal relationships and work relationships distinct and separate. You love boundaries because they make your life less complicated. You’re like an actor or an actress who immediately puts a different mask once the camera is turned on. People pay you for your professionalism and so you do your best all the time to leave your personal feelings at home. You perform what is expected of you and you give others the respect that they well-deserved.

8. You can carry secrets to your grave.

As someone who purely detests betrayal, you can give anyone a guarantee that when they tell you a top secret, it will truly become a highly classified information until further notice. You’re excellent in zipping your mouth shut and minding your own business. No wonder people flock to you when they want to share some of their emotional burdens. If each person gives you a dollar for every secret that they share, you’re probably going to be a millionaire by now. That’s how trustworthy you are.

9. You don’t forget your horrible experiences in the past.

No matter how many times you’ve been told to put your past behind you, there’s not a chance you’re going to do it. You’ve seen how people can easily turn to monsters, how easily they can throw anyone under the bus when something is at stake. You have some level of understanding about the way people behave in certain situations. And believing that such bad experiences will not happen again is just impossible. All human beings have evil desires, even the holiest ones.

10. You still open your heart to the possibility of meeting your best friend one day.

You still believe that there’s at least one person in this big world who’s going to shatter the walls that you’ve been building around you. One person who’s going to shine a light to your dead, cold town. Despite the numerous times that people let you down before, a part of you still hopes that one day, you’ll find someone you can trust. You’ll meet someone who has the same scars that you have and that you’ll heal each other, protect each other, and maybe love each other like siblings too. In a world of 7 billion people, it’s likely that you’ll be able to get to know a person who will show you that it’s okay not to be too guarded sometimes.