I'm a firm believer in the phrase "it's better to love and loose then not to love at all". Loving someone means putting a part of your happiness in the hand of someone else, being depended on other people is always risky, there's always the chance of getting hurt.
However, though getting hurt, well, hurts... I don't think it's just a bad thing. I've learned a lot and basically owe the person I am today to being hurt by loved ones. Loving and loosing had been a great force in shaping my personality.
I took a huge leap of faith about a year and a half ago, and moved half way across the world, leaving behind my family, friends and job for a man I met on the internet, we just had our first anniversary and are still very much in love. In my case taking a chance of love really payed off.