Find the bravery to go into therapy can be daunting. This can be attributed to the about of times you have to be honest and vulnerable with your feelings. Vulnerability helps us makes sense of how we process and handle our feelings, especially during moments we don’t feel grounded. It’s about allowing the totality of ourselves to be seen.
Our walls come down and we must be okay with how people regard us. Perhaps this way so many experience sensations of fear or anxiety when the term vulnerability is uttered. People may confuse vulnerability with weakness, but it takes incredibly strength to show others our underbelly. Consider moments you let your guard down. The bravery to say “I love you” first, to enter school on the first day, to leave a comfortable job for better career growth, facing illness with a loved one, speaking in public, or asking for help.
Our emotions get fed into our nervous systems, especially the negative ones like worry, regret, and sadness. Often, we avoid processing these feelings because they hurt so much, and instead numb the sensations with drugs, food, alcohol, games or shopping. But life, is messy and negative emotions are part of every day. We must learn to sit with these moments, as we do with the good ones. In this time, we discover that vulnerability opens the gates of love, understanding, opportunity, and creative expression. Vulnerability facilitates authentic emotional connection with ourselves and others.
Ways to embrace vulnerability
- Step outside your routine and foster self-confidence. When you please yourself, you no longer worry about what others think of you. Cultivating vulnerability converts negative patterns into self-awareness and allows you to chart the path to the life you desire.
- Vulnerability requires patience and practice. It asks us to full love ourselves, and learn to see flaws as unique gifts. In this self-love we minimize fears of rejection or putting on a social mask. We become confident and more present in life. This about the image of how in airplanes you are to place the oxygen mask on yourself first, before you can help anyone else. When you are able to breathe, you are in the position to help others fight for the life they deserve as well. Self-love can be challenging, especially during moments of stress. However, by practicing self-care we can overcome limiting beliefs and become a light of inspirations for ourselves and others.
- Honor your quirks. Perfection is an unreasonable construct. Sure, high performing people receive praise, but it comes at a cost. Constantly striving for perfection can form linger wounds when we ultimately fall short, and one can become obsessed with what others think of them. Instead, consider what you deem to be excellence. Focus on what guides you and ways you seek to improve yourself. This way your life is yours alone.
Embrace vulnerability allows ourselves to know our true self. When you accept both your positive and negative attributes you can become more present in your life and that of others. Vulnerability is not about spilling your guts to a stranger, but instead setting boundaries and fostering trust. We reveal our inner world only to people we consider worthy of this honor. Dr. Brene Brown, a vulnerability expert, suggest it is at the core of human interactions. By showing our true self we allow people to truly get to know us and discover ways to be more present in our lives. Like Marianne Williamson says, “As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
