Today, a friend (thanks brother J) sent me a video link to Brene Brown talking about the power of vulnerability. Right here if you're interested: Brené Brown: The power of vulnerability What a great way to start my Friday! Here's some thoughts I took away.
Vulnerability is divinely powerful; like raise-the-dead powerful.
It may not be of interest to everyone, but those who desire to live wholeheartedly will resonate deeply with this. If we want to be true to who we are, we must be fiercely vulnerable. For to be vulnerable is to be truly alive. What will it take to be vulnerable? Brene shared 3 C's - courage, compassion, and connection. I love how she unpacked them:
Courage: Telling your true life story with your whole heart; having the courage to be imperfect.
Compassion: Having compassion for yourself; treating yourself kindly in light of your imperfections / mistakes / failures, ie. things that cause you shame.
Connection - from wanting to be authentic, letting go of who you should be in order to be who you are.
My addition to her thoughts about connection is who we are is infinitely greater than who we think we should be. This is Jesus' call to discipleship. "If anyone comes after Me, let him deny himself, pick up his cross, and follow me." Denying self is letting go of who you think you should be. Picking up the cross is embracing vulnerability. Following Him is becoming who God made you to be, the real you. Think about that. Today, there is someone hidden by your lack of vulnerability. But when you become vulnerable, that someone is brought to life and you discover that is who you really are, and it's not who you think you should be. You are actually so much more than your limited ideas of yourself!
Fully embrace vulnerability; what makes you vulnerable makes you beautiful and Christlike. Willingness to say I love you first. Do something where there are no guarantees. Invest in a relationship that may or may not work out. Wow, that is so real. Thanks Brene for helping me see.
"Vulnerability is the core of shame and fear and struggle for worthiness; but also the birthplace of joy, love, and creativity." Brene, you are genius!
Brene went on to share that as she learned this, she had a breakdown which actually was a spiritual awakening. Funny, this just happens to match what Jesus taught in His Sermon on the Mount when He listed 8 attitudes for God's ultimate blessing. The first 3 identify the need to realize one's true spiritual condition, mourn and grieve it, then surrender to what God has shown you to be true about yourself and Him. Doesn't that sound like a breakdown, lol? It's amazing how this happened to a highly educated, intelligent, and extremely humorous 'research story teller', (that's how Brene wanted to professionally identify herself).
We can try to fight this universal power of vulnerability, but in the end, we will lose, like 6 feet-under kind of lose. Some of us fight by trying to numb vulnerability by getting into debt, becoming obese, or falling to addictions. But all that ends up happening is we become disconnected from reality. Others of us try to make uncertainty certain; we're driven to control and organize to get rid of the discomfort of chaos. And many of us blame as a way to discharge pain and discomfort. But in this fight, if we can lose to vulnerability while we are still breathing, we will win our lives back from denial, numbing lifestyles, pretension, hypocrisy!
So how do we lose to vulnerability? Just believe.
Each and every day, vulnerability is inviting us to believe the truth that 'You are worthy of love and belonging.' Vulnerability sure sounds like Jesus, the God and Savior which the Bible talks about.
Today, let yourself be seen, deeply seen. Love with your whole heart. Practice gratitude and joy.
Believe you are enough, even for God to sacrifice His only true Son for your forgiveness.
What does this have to do with coaching? It's the very thing that empowers the relationship to achieve your greatest, most meaningful goals. Any goal. The greatest life is lived when we are fiercely true to who we are. When our thinking is aligned with our passions and true identity, we will greatly inspire and impact this world with courage, compassion, and connection!