...is a word we hear a lot right now.
We also hear, “be strong!”, “own your power!”, “strut your stuff”, “speak your mind”, “stand up for yourself!”. It is a bit confusing - being strong and also being vulnerable, don’t you think? We have been taught - especially men- to not cry. Don’t have too much emotion or you will be seen as weak. Don’t talk too much about your feelings or you won't be masculine enough. I believe us women can take this message to heart as well - in the workplace, or in a relationship where we don’t want to be too honest, to let our partner know how we really feel.
Try it on this way, “Vulnerability is Strength”.
I’m not saying to break down in tears every day in the office, but to speak your truth - even if you are fearful of feeling emotion. When it is your truth, you must speak it. In a relationship be real with how you are feeling about situations. When you don’t, the emotions will pile up in your heart and in your soul, which gets you to a place of resentment. When you finally open up, you have all these pent up feelings and your partner is saying, “What??? I had no idea all this was going on!”
Tune into your mind, body, and spirit to feel vulnerable and then communicate your mind, feelings, and desires. Do not hold it in! It will find a place in your body to hide and turn into stress and even disease! It doesn’t go away. You will feel so much better when you let it out!
Ask yourself, “do I want to hold it in and suffer, or do I want to let it out and feel good?”
The fear of how to say it, or when to say it is what holds us back. Embrace the emotion of fear. Try it on like a new outfit, and wear it around your bedroom - check yourself out in your mirror. Practice the monologue you want to say to your boss, or your boy/girlfriend, or colleague, parents, friends, etc. Work the fear through…..and then march in the next day and present your new outfit. You might be shaking inside the first time you do it. This is the fear talking -don’t let it win! You got this! This is where the strength of vulnerability shows itself. Fear the fear and do it anyway!
Be vulnerable. It’s your new strength!