Painting by Belynda Wilson Thomas
The fully matured man has no fear, no defense; he is psychologically completely open and vulnerable. Osho
Last night was the speech contest at my Toastmasters club. We had a good turnout, five contestants, and a test speaker for the evaluation contest. Six fabulous speeches to listen to.
The speeches that resonate are the ones where people get real, vulnerable and tell truths about themselves that are truths about the rest of us as well. People we think are the most confident people we know have hidden fears they aren’t good enough. They fear they haven’t been good enough people, parents, and partners.
We feel we don’t measure up. But, what do we think we need to measure up too? We all have strengths, weaknesses, failings, and successes. As one speaker said last night we need to fight for the successes in our life, some of the other stuff comes and we just live with it. But success, in life, love, relationships, career, and character we have to work on.
Isn’t that part of what makes life so great? We can choose areas we want to improve in and then we can set out to improve our lives in little and big ways.
A man, who thirty years ago had a hard time introducing himself to someone because of his stutter, won the speech contest last night. He has to tell us he has a stutter because it isn’t evident. That didn’t just happen, he didn’t just outgrow it. He went to a five-day workshop which helped. and then twenty years ago he joined Toastmasters.
Developing ourselves and watching others develop is a great joy in life. It’s one of the reasons I prefer regular Toastmaster’s clubs to advanced clubs. I like seeing the growth that takes place at the beginning of someone’s Toastmaster journey.
Being vulnerable is the only way to allow your heart to feel true pleasure. Bob Marley
For some people, an organization like Toastmasters is a hop on and away they go. For others it fills a greater need, for some, it is a way to tell their stories, and as they tell their stories, they find their voice, and themselves.
Some people find their voice through writing; some people find it through public speaking. Singing, art, and any form of self-expression feeds our soul. Do we suffer when we don’t express our truest selves?
Do we worry about being vulnerable like vulnerability is a weakness and not strength? We sometimes develop hard crusty shells to hide our vulnerability, but when we embrace it, other people can get to know us. Don’t we connect on a deeper level?
Often we are defensive instead of vulnerable. We don’t take chances because we might fail. If we try and put ourselves out there we are vulnerable to failure. We are living life, we are thriving.
When we live an open, honest life and take the chances life offers we are vulnerable. This has nothing to do with being manly, or womanly. We need to live our lives open to joy, pain, sorrow, excitement, love, despair, and all that life has to offer. When we protect ourselves from feeling, we miss much of what life has to offer.
When we choose to be vulnerable and feel, instead of defensive and not feel, we are choosing a better life. Finding a way to tell our stories, feed our soul through some creative endeavor we live a healthier, fuller, and more connected life.
Are we choosing to be vulnerable or defensive? Are we open or closed to all, or some of what life has to offer?
Vulnerability is terrifying. The courage it takes to reveal your heart is one of the most daunting…and yet rewarding experiences in life. It will set you free. Unknown
Vulnerability is the only bridge to build connection. Unknown
Emotional pain cannot kill you but running from it can. Allow. Embrace. Let yourself feel. Let yourself heal. Vironika Tugaleva
Thank you for reading this post. I hope you enjoyed it. I hope you will come back and read some more. Have a blessed day filled with gratitude, joy, and love.
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I Thought It Was Just Me (but it isn’t): Making the Journey from “What Will People Think?” to “I Am Enough” Paperback – Dec 27 2007
by Brené Brown (Author) 4.6 out of 5 stars 1,094 ratings#1 Best Seller in Gender
I love the topics you tackle, very interesting content!