We each have gifts to share with the world. By sharing these gifts we create a life of meaning and purpose. Yet often, our fears and insecurities prevent us from recognizing our uniqueness and paralyze us from sharing our greatest gifts.
At times, physical, emotional or circumstantial challenges prevent us from meeting expectations or achieving certain outcomes. It can be easy to take a set-back personally and to make it mean something about who you are and what you are capable of. These experiences can hinder or divert the direction of your life temporarily, but you don’t have to give these set-backs the power to take over your life. Life events always have the potential to hold you back or to push you forward.
You can’t fully experience or express who you truly are or what you are capable of, until you are willing to let go of who you think you should be. When you stop worrying about what others will think, the real you can emerge.
We all have a deep seated need to be loved and to belong, and often the fear of rejection keeps us from expressing and experiencing who we really are. When you let your guard down you allow your authenticity to be revealed and experienced. It takes courage to face your own vulnerabilities and insecurities and to risk being hurt and rejected. Indeed, we may be so focused on and insecure about our vulnerabilities that we may not even realize that the thing that makes us vulnerable is also what makes us unique.
Anytime we want to learn or to experience anything new, we have to be willing to get uncomfortable. If we are doing something we have never done before, we have to be willing to feel emotions that we are not accustomed to feeling. As we face situations that are new, we find ourselves driven by our feelings to take actions that we would not have ordinarily taken. It may be to retreat, deflect or stall, or it may be to be bold or explorative. Depending on our mindset, when a challenge arises, it can either trigger fear or it can motivate us into action. Often, we feel both. It’s simply a question of which inner voice we act upon. Whichever choice you make, if you take the time to really look at what is holding you back and what is resisting the part of you that is motivated to push forward, you will uncover your vulnerability.
Sometimes, it takes a challenge to really push you to expose who you are and what you’re made of. During this time, the part of you that you were afraid to reveal may start to emerge. In each of us, there’s a part of us that feels insecure, inferior or unworthy about something. It’s that part of you that says, “if people knew this about me they would not accept me”. But once you can get beyond the fear of rejection, and you courageously risk revealing your inner self by making new choices and taking new actions, you will see that acknowledging your vulnerability only enhances your authenticity. It is this authenticity that gives purpose and meaning to your unique contribution to the world.
What if accepting and acknowledging your vulnerability was the key to understanding and accepting yourself?
“Courage is telling the story of who you are with your whole heart.” – Brene Brown
