Bene Brown - The Power Of Vulnerability (Ted Talks)
Vulnerability is a HARD thing! I think that the time in my life when I felt most vulnerable was when I was around 12-years-old. My family had just moved to Bolivia, South America as missionaries. I was new, had no friends, didn't speak Spanish, I was taller than all the girls AND boys my age, wore braces and dorky clothes and was just starting to break out...everything was awkward. I felt terribly shy and wanted to shrink away and hide. It was uncomfortable, but I had to push past it and get myself out there. I had to learn the language and make friends and after a while, I finally learned how to be more comfortable with myself.
Fast forward 17 years and I still struggle with vulnerability. Sure...it is different things that make me feel uncomfortable, but its vulnerability none the less!
Everywhere we look, the world is telling us what we should be or should have.
-a big house
-a new car (s)
-the perfect pet (s)
-great clothes
-successful careers
-2 kids (a boy and a girl)...
WOMEN should be:
-sweet
-gentle
-beautiful
-thin
-petite
-have perfect skin
-long hair
-be good mothers...
MEN should be:
-tall
-muscular
-handsome
-tough
-strong
-athletic
-provide for their families...
How can we all keep up?!?!!?!?
We can't.............but we sure do try!
Social Media has become an outlet for us to prove to the world that we are GOOD ENOUGH! We all feel vulnerable and want to have approval from others, so we turn to FaceBook and Instagram and Twitter to get "likes" and affirming comments. But, are we really showing our true selves or are we showing what we wish we were or what we think others wish we are?
Think about it...what do you compare yourself to? Do you compare your house to IKEA catalogues? Do you compare your looks with Victoria's Secret supermodels? Do you compare your family's meals to Pinterest? Do you compare your vacations to your friends vacation photos posted all over FaceBook? Do you compare your clothes to what you see in popular magazines? Comparing yourself to anything or anyone will NEVER make you happy...the only way that you will truly be happy with yourself is if you dare to be vulnerable...dare to be your true self...dare to show people who YOU really are!!!
The people who truly love you for YOU are the ones that will stick by you through thick and thin. They won't care how you dress, where you shop, what your house looks like, what you eat, where you work, if you don't work, what your hobbies are, whether or not you exercise, what your hair looks like, how your kids act...you can be your true self with these people...you can be vulnerable.
So, I want to challenge you to figure out who those people are! Who are the people who you completely trust and you know that they love you for YOU? Who are the people who always got your back? Did a few people come to mind?
And as for the others?!?!?! I honestly feel like most people have "haters". There will always be at least one person who does not like your lifestyle choices and decisions...that's ok! Every person is different, likes different food, dresses in different clothes, spends their free time differently, raises their kids differently, spends their money differently, enjoys different hobbies, is drawn to different careers...this is good! Can you imagine a world where everyone is the same?!?!? How boring!
God made YOU and loves YOU.
YOU have gifts and talents...embrace them!
YOU have weaknesses...improve on them!
Be vulnerable and enjoy being who YOU really are!
Enjoy the people who love you for YOU!
Don't worry about the haters!
And finally, as Brene Brown would say, Dare Greatly!!!
And don't forget what Taylor Swift says...
'Cause the players gonna play, play, play, play, play
And the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate
Baby, I'm just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake
I shake it off, I shake it off
---you know you just sang that to yourself! haha!
No comments:
Post a Comment