It's empowering to be vulnerable
To be vulnerable is to exhibit a massive amount of strength.
It allows you to step into yourself and be more relatable to your tribe.
The whole "vulnerable" thing a powerful sentiment, especially because it goes against everything that I was taught as a child.
I was taught to hold in my emotions, never cry in public, and don’t show your cards to everyone.
I remember when I was 7 years old, my great uncle died.
While we were at the funeral, I started to cry, understandably. I was standing next to my dad in the pew, and he heard me sobbing, At that moment, he turns to me and says, “what are you crying for?” Once he said that, I forced myself to stop and stand there in silence.
Not exactly the healthiest of ways to deal with grief, but, that’s how it was for me back then, and it’s how I lived my life until I was well into my 30’s.
Boy, that was a bad move - when it came to feelings, I kept them close to the vest and didn’t let them out.
By allowing everything to stay bottled up inside, that led to a lot of misplaced emotions bubbling to the surface at the most inopportune times - blowups, arguments and irritable moments..
Needless to say, I am grateful for moving past it since it was an absolutely toxic way of processing my feelings and led to a pretty unstable existence.
Now, I take a much different approach.
If something is on my mind, I say it. If I feel something that’s not right, I address it. If I’m hurt, I share it.
Rather than frame this emotion as weakness, I see it more as a catharsis.
By addressing the feelings the moment they enter my consciousness, I’m not allowing it to grab a stranglehold on my attention, and, am offering myself a healthy, organic avenue to work it out, and eventually, letting it go.
Despite the hurt that inspired it, I am able to move past it in more natural and healthy way.
By sharing my vulnerabilities with friends, family and through my writing that I share with you folks, it’s a way to not only empower myself, but, it’s an amazing educational tool for sharing my experiences with those who seek to get out of their own ways and show up in the world the way they want - to live a flourishing life!
After all, what’s a better way to capitalize off of a low moment than to allow others to learn from it!
Are you someone that leads with your feelings? Is this reflected in your image content?
Please share your story in the comments section.
PS - For those of you who aren’t in the know, I mail out these blogs 3x a week, and lemme tell you, they’re a real party, so, if you’d like to get in on this, sign up for it here and I’ll throw in a free gift for you...because I care, :)