Our other good friend, Vulnerability.

It’s no secret that I love vulnerability. Challenging the stories we tell ourselves so that we can find freedom in living vulnerably is the core motivator for all that I do. Something I think about often and I think is a great question for everyone to process is, what really keeps us from living vulnerably?

Vulnerability has gotten a bad rap. Some of it may be justified because it does have a tendency to be overused. When we think of being vulnerable as exposing weakness, that’s where I think we get it wrong. The reality is, vulnerability is about creating an opportunity for growth. When we are willing to show the parts of us we’ve hidden, we are exposing ourselves to growth.

Side Note: This is why I so strongly believe in defining words for yourself. I define vulnerability as an opportunity for growth. How you define it may be different. But it’s possible, that if you don’t take thought into how you define vulnerability, society will define it for you. I think vulnerability defined as an exposure of weakness is inaccurate and misses the beauty and goodness found in being truly vulnerable. Okay, back to the blog.

So how do we being to be more vulnerable? I think it starts with answering, where do you want to grow? Where are you hoping to see a change in your life?

Is it in a relationship with your parents? Is it in your productivity at work? Is it in your relationship with your spouse? Is it in how you see yourself? Is it in your community? Is it in your relationship with your children? Where are the places where you have felt a longing and a desire to see a shift but have hesitated to create the change?

Are you spending energy and time on being vulnerable in those spaces you want to change? Where we spend our energy, and our time, is where we see the most growth.

Vulnerability creates our greatest opportunities for growth. By answering where you want to grow you find the perfect opportunity to be vulnerable. If you're not choosing vulnerability, you're choosing to not grow. For us to begin to see growth and shifts in the spaces we care about it's going to require a willingness and an effort to be vulnerable.