Connection is something we all long for.
Even with our own family.
Even with our own community.
Yet connection only happens when there is vulnerability.
Are we vulnerable enough to tell our friend that we are going through a rough time?
Are we vulnerable enough to tell our brother or sister about the trauma we experienced as a child that they never knew about?
Are we vulnerable enough to tell those around us that we are not sure what to do next?
We think we have to keep an air of we got it all together in order to have friends think we’re okay people.
We think that if show the world we are hurting, it will only punish us more.
Actually, the more we share our struggle and our pain the more the world can relate to us.
The more human we make ourselves the more comfortable people feel around us.
The more we are honest about what is really going on inside of us the closer our partners will feel to us.
To only show one side of ourselves to others creates a one dimensional image of who we are.
We are so much more complex and intricate.
We are full of contradictions and paradoxes.
And we allow ourselves to show that to the world at large, or just to our best friend, we create a deeper connection.
To say to your boss or your clients that you don’t know how to handle something is brave.
As long as it is followed by a desire for help and to find out what to do, they will reward our bravery.
Yet if we don’t express ourselves because of fear, we only hurt ourselves.
We hurt our reputation and our trustworthiness in their eyes.
To be trustworthy we must be honest and vulnerable.
To feel safe to others we must be honest about what is really going on.
Sometimes we don’t even know what is going on inside of us.
We can be honest about that as well.
Being vulnerable seems like we are being weak.
Nothing is further from the truth.
Our strongest moments happens when we are being the most vulnerable.
~ Sam Liebowitz, The Conscious Consultant