When you worry about whether you are being played or not, your instincts are keeping you safe.

That is what your instincts are supposed to do.

Sadly, there are guys who play women.

You have no control over that.

All you have control over is establishing that you don’t get played by one of these guys.

That is why you mustn’t be ingenuous about dating.

Yes, there are amazing guys out there, but you have to be careful that you don’t fall for a guy too soon, until you have given it time.

Dating is fun, but it doesn’t mean that you should throw caution to the wind while being courted.

There are guys who see a girl and instantly know that she is ripe for being taken advantage of.

He won’t show this at first.

He acts as though he is a wonderful guy by being charming and tickling your funny bone.

As you giggle and smile, he makes you feel that much more special.

When he talks to you, he invigorates your love language.

He uses words that make your heart race, and has a bravado to him that makes you believe that you are safe with him.

This is a guy who has a lot of experience with women and knows what buttons to push.

By the time he has taken you out a handful of times, you are in love.

Unfortunately, this is a guy that was tricking you.

He knew all along what it would take to get you excited about him, and that is what he used.

By this stage, you have fallen for him, and it’s difficult for you to see anything wrong with him, even though he is beginning to break in showing you a few not-so-good elements to his personality.

Your friends and family keep telling you that they are observing behavior in him that is worrisome.

When you are having conversation with them about what he said or did, they are suspicious that he is a bad actor.

Yet, you make excuses for what he said or did.

Unfortunately, he knows that he has you wrapped around his finger at this point, and takes advantage of it.

He doesn’t care about you, but makes you believe he does.

He gets you to do whatever he wants and you comply, incapable of seeing him as anything else but your soulmate.

After he has used you to his heart’s content, he becomes verbally abusive and inconsiderate of you.

Next thing you know, you are asking him about why you had to text him dozens of times before he finally replied.

You are asking him about why he is liking the social media pictures of all these beautiful women, and following them, and he is telling you that you are the one who is overthinking everything.

After a while of this treatment, you lose who you are, and your self-esteem is shattered.

This is the last place you want to be.

There is nothing wrong with having fun and enjoying the ride when you are dating, but this doesn’t mean that letting your guard down and becoming susceptible to being taken advantage of is the smart move.

There are men who prey on unsuspecting women when dating.

As long as you don’t get caught up in your emotions too soon, your eyes stay wide open, and you won’t have to suffer through getting played.