Vulnerability equals strength

Be a man! Suck it up! Don’t be such a baby! I don’t want to hear about it! Don’t be so emotional!

We live in a society that has outlawed emotion. We are made to believe that being emotional and talking about one’s feelings is a sign of weakness. Men are taught to be macho and to act like invincible warriors, while women often aren’t taken seriously and are criticized for being too emotional.

The end result is that we end up bottling our emotions, suppressing how we truly feel and greatly diminishing our capacity for resolving conflicts, being intimate and experiencing fulfilling relationships. This bottling leads to congested emotions like rage, depression and extreme anxiety.

It takes courage to take that first step of putting yourself out there and allowing hidden parts of yourself to be seen.

The good news is that we are finally beginning to question and see through these old archetypes. And at the core of this renaissance is a powerful weapon for transformation…VULNERABILITY.

When we are vulnerable and express our sensitive side, our fears, our care, our sadness, our anger (as opposed to rage), we release a little bit of the pressure of our bottled emotions. Not only does it make us feel better, but it also gives other people permission to do the same. It fosters deeper more meaningful connection, allows for healthy conflict resolution, and provides a healthy framework for healing our collective traumas and the addictions that we’ve adopted to try and soothe our pain.

It takes courage to take that first step of putting yourself out there and allowing hidden parts of yourself to be seen. It’s probably best to start with people you trust, and to take things slow, but the more you develop a relationship with that authenticity the more confident and liberated you will become. Vulnerability is not a sign of weakness. Vulnerability = Strength.