The Strength in Vulnerability
Today I am grateful that people find me worthy of their trust. I am also grateful for the beautiful sunrise I am witnessing this morning.
Vulnerability, on the surface, seems like an undesirable quality. It sounds like a weakness, like defenses that have broken down. One definition is: susceptibility to be wounded or hurt.
Who wants that? That's where most of us stop. Emotional pain, wounded pride, and broken hearts aren't things we tend to seek. Why then do so many of us end up falling into a pattern where that is exactly what we get?
My two cents on this topic is that we stopped at only half of the definition of vulnerable. The other half is about being open to new experiences and deeper levels of self-awareness. It is about the strength that stems from letting down our guard instead of keeping the walls up at all costs.
There is true power in vulnerability. Strength comes from what we learn when we let go, when we tear a wall down to see what is on the other side. Yes, there will still be some pain and hurt.
But what joy and freedom there will also be! Allow some vulnerability in your life and see what happens. Feel what happens.
But what joy and freedom there will also be! Allow some vulnerability in your life and see what happens. Feel what happens.
Hi Lisa,
ReplyDeleteI agree about vulnerability not necessarily being a bad thing. Cancer definitely forces us to show our vulnerable side. Or at least this was the case with me. And it was hard sometimes to allow others, even my loved ones, to see me at my most vulnerable. But letting others in, well, there is strength that comes with that too. For us and for those we let in. Thank you for your thought-provoking words of wisdom.
Thanks Nancy! I recall some of the most vulnerable times I had during my cancer treatment and surgeries and in the years since. They were very humbling, sometimes difficult, but I came out the other side knowing myself and others in new ways. For that, I am grateful.
Delete