Vulnerability is a BIG word

A word I have had on my mind recently is: Vulnerability.

Vulnerability is a BIG word.

I don’t mean that in the sense that it has many letters and is hard to say, but I mean vulnerability is a big word in the sense that it is so important and impactful, but also so heavy and difficult for so many people.

If you aren’t one of the millions of people who have seen Brene Brown’s “Power of Vulnerability” Ted Talk, I highly recommend you stop what you are doing and take the 20 minutes to sit down and watch or listen. I have listened to it more than 15 times in the past 5 years and it speaks directly to me every time.

What she says so eloquently is that vulnerability is the key to genuine connection, belonging, love, joy and happiness. Vulnerability is also the birthplace of creativity, innovation and the adaptability to change. A lot of what we desire and need as human beings comes from allowing ourselves to be vulnerable.

What is so fascinating to me is that a lot of us, myself included, have grown up believing vulnerability is a symbol of weakness, but that could not be further from the truth. Vulnerability is actually our most accurate test of courage.

Stepping into the unknown and taking a chance without any guarantees, allowing ourselves to be fully seen by others, and having the courage to be imperfect is what will progress us toward what we really want in life.

I’ll leave you with a question I continue to ask myself every week: “How can I be more vulnerable, take a risk or allow myself to be seen?”

Brene Brown’s Power of Vulnerability Ted Talk: https://lnkd.in/gs2ryieA