Self Worth

Its hard to talk about humans and not mention relationships, you see couples everywhere,from streets to restaurants to cinema to gardens, events, churches... literally everywhere but even then, we find also a lot of single lonely people most of them empty and broken but i wonder if anyone has the power to break another except we give them that chance. Like my mama always says ''anything gotten easy is never taken serious but if worked for is taken very seriously'' but of course there are exceptions to that rule, certain people do not know how to value a diamond if they found one. This got me thinking, how do i filter the number of people i let walk into my life to reduce the hurt, the only rational answer i got was to raise my standards, it is my life and my choices. I know of some couples (names withdrawn) that suffered severely in their relationships but could not muster the courage to walk away because of the fear of finding another who might be half as good as the present man or woman so deny themselves the chance of true companionship. I feel the only reason one will do this is because he/she lacks the love for themselves. what aches most is that most times we try to change to fit the picture that this supposed significant other feels we should be, that we forget who we really are... we run after them like lost puppies hungry for any home and forget we are worth the best and should never settle.
I remember sometime ago during my college days, i was single and had a lot of dating friend who were of the opinion that i was single because my standards were too high or because i was too opinionated but why shouldn't i be, ''the aim is not to be with anybody but to be with somebody''. I remain grateful that i stood with my standards because i saved my heart a lot of aches and crying.
The worst thing we can do to ourselves is settle, the rest of your life is too long to settle, i mean way to long to feel unhappy, not good enough, unappreciated, to feel unloved or feel alone.
Personally i think before you go into a relationship you should enjoy being single, enjoy knowing your self, enjoy your own company and love who you have grown to be, so when you finally let some one into your life, you know what you want and wont let just anyone in, only those who can fit into the world you love but of course you should be open to new ideas and please feel free to retreat if your not comfortable with it.
No one knows the recipe of finding true love or avoiding getting hurt but we can try to avoid being broken or shattered, we can reduce the hurt and give ourselves some standard, some level of self satisfaction, embracing who and what we are, besides in the end all that matters is our happiness.