Play with fire

And you will invariably get singed.

I say singed instead of 'burned' or 'scorched', because I believe that the amount of damage a fire can do is ultimately determined and controlled by you. After all, you're the one who chose to toy with it in the first place. You were lured in by its burning light and beauty, and only as you got closer did you begin to feel its radiating heat. Now instinct is telling you that the fire is dangerous, but something about it is so intriguing, and you can't exactly identify what it is. So you go even further, inching closer. You put your hand out and lightly touch the surface of the fire, and its singes you. Then and only then do you either decide take the pain as a warning of the danger that is lying beneath its fiery hot surface; or you become preoccupied by its beauty and mystery that you forget or even ignore what just happened only a moment ago. The only problem is, the fire remains as is: hot, dangerous, and destructive. Your perception or view doesn't change the truth.

I believe that one of the greatest downfalls of women in general is ignoring the truth, because of a distrust; a distrust of ourselves. In many situations we receive warnings, we see signs of danger, but we decide to ignore it and plunge forth regardless. And the majority of the time, our intuition proves to be correct; in good and bad situations.

So after deciding to ignore the truth- that the fire is indeed hot and will hurt you - you get burned, and only after you see the marks it's left, do you reflect and realize that you should've heeded to the warnings provided.

If only we didn't have to get burned by the fire in order to learn what we were shown to begin with. But the hope in this is that after being injured, and feeling the full impact of all of its pain, you will subsequently do everything in your power to avoid it.
It's just unfortunate when it has to reach such an extreme point.