Guarding my heart...for love?

I received an email recently asking me what I thought it meant for us to "guard our hearts" and so I've been thinking about it a bit.  I might have rolled my eyes a bit in the process, tired of the ways that this one verse in Scripture has become this excuse for Christian women to cling to without really even knowing what it means or the context behind it.

What it does it mean to ‘guard your heart'?

This is a loaded question, but I don't think it necessarily means what everyone always says it means... 
I think we can be overly cautious with this phrase and use it out of context in a way that harms us or in a way that it was never intended to be used.  I think it allows us to worry and gives us an excuse to be controlling-- and I'm not sure that's the point at all.   

Proverbs 4:23 

‘Guard your heart because it's the wellspring of life’  is the verse we typically hear, right? 

Or perhaps:

‘Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.’

Or how about this one: 

‘Guard your heart with all vigilance, for from it are the sources of life.’

Or here:

'Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.'

Jeremiah 17:9 says

The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.  

(notice that it says above all things...similar to how we are called to guard it above all things)

Matthew 15:19 says

For out of the heart come evil thoughts: murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander...

Mostly, I wonder if we are called to guard our hearts in a completely different sense than this romantic context that everyone always uses it in.  Guard our hearts, watch them carefully—because everything we DO/THINK flows from it.  Because our hearts are desperately wicked, they are easily influenced by the world and the things of the world.  Guard it, watch it... tread carefully.  It’s this very dear and important thing to us because from it we think, we act, we speak—but it's also evil.

I don't think that 'guard your heart' means-- "Hey there, hopeful lady... I know there's this really stellar guy that you're interested in and it seems like he might be interested too... but you need to be careful when you give your heart to someone.  You need to protect it and not allow anyone in because you are precious and someone has to really prove that he wants to be with you before you ever allow him in.  Instead of getting close to him, guard yourself- be hesitant, make sure he really cares...and whatever you do, don't put yourself out there to risk being hurt."

Instead, guarding your heart seems to have everything to do with fleeing from evil, not fleeing from the potential of something incredible and life-giving.  Correct me if you think I'm wrong, please...and definitely read the whole chapter and tell me your thoughts on this subject.  

But what would I say?
Don't run from things that could be good because you're afraid of hurt and risk and the unknown.  Be open to people... before assuming that you know exactly how everything is going to turn out.

Let's not be women who make Scripture something that it's not... let us always be women who go back to the Word when we hear things and let us only apply them to our lives when it is truth...

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