I was reading a friends blog today and found this link to Brene Brown's presentation on "The Power of Vulnerability". I have embeded her video below for your viewing. It's just over 20 minutes, but it flies by. There is also a transcript of the talk to the right of her presentation and you can read it and click on any place you want to start.
I wrote not too long ago about being vulnerable and how that was a challenge for me. It seems that this is a bigger problem than I would have ever guessed. Brown reveals that "we are the most in-debt, obese, addicted and medicated adult cohort in U.S. history." That is astounding and frightening. We feed our fear and shame, our emptiness and lack of self-worth, with things; we numb it with booze and food and drugs. Unfortunately, this numbing not only rids us of feeling the pain, but also takes away our job. Epiphany. I get it now. I knew I fed my emptiness. I knew I was trying to numb it up, but I didn't see that in doing so, I was stealing my own joy. It makes perfect sense, though.
Brown shares that the difference between those who have a strong sense of belonging and love and those who don't have that same sense is just this: "They believe they are worthy." Worthy of love and belonging. In our shame and fear, we feel unworthy; not enough for anyone else to care enough about. We are separated from all we can be in this life because we fear that being vulnerable--choosing to love with all we have knowing that there may be pain--isn't worth the risk. The hurt would be insurmountable. The thing of it is, that in living without this connection to others, we have chosen numb and joyless. We have chosen to fill our emptiness with things that never fill it. We have chosen to believe that we are not enough, could never be enough, for someone else to love, to want us, to see us for who we are and like what they see. We have created that truth and lived and believed it. It is not true. It is a lie that we have concocted in hopes of protecting ourselves. In trying to not be hurt by someone else, we have instead chosen to abuse ourselves emotionally and physically.
So, today, I ask you to believe. Believe in the power of you. Believe that you are enough. Believe that you are worthy of love and belonging. Today, and forevermore, I choose to believe that I AM ENOUGH! I am worth it! And so are you! BELIEVE!
I wrote not too long ago about being vulnerable and how that was a challenge for me. It seems that this is a bigger problem than I would have ever guessed. Brown reveals that "we are the most in-debt, obese, addicted and medicated adult cohort in U.S. history." That is astounding and frightening. We feed our fear and shame, our emptiness and lack of self-worth, with things; we numb it with booze and food and drugs. Unfortunately, this numbing not only rids us of feeling the pain, but also takes away our job. Epiphany. I get it now. I knew I fed my emptiness. I knew I was trying to numb it up, but I didn't see that in doing so, I was stealing my own joy. It makes perfect sense, though.
Brown shares that the difference between those who have a strong sense of belonging and love and those who don't have that same sense is just this: "They believe they are worthy." Worthy of love and belonging. In our shame and fear, we feel unworthy; not enough for anyone else to care enough about. We are separated from all we can be in this life because we fear that being vulnerable--choosing to love with all we have knowing that there may be pain--isn't worth the risk. The hurt would be insurmountable. The thing of it is, that in living without this connection to others, we have chosen numb and joyless. We have chosen to fill our emptiness with things that never fill it. We have chosen to believe that we are not enough, could never be enough, for someone else to love, to want us, to see us for who we are and like what they see. We have created that truth and lived and believed it. It is not true. It is a lie that we have concocted in hopes of protecting ourselves. In trying to not be hurt by someone else, we have instead chosen to abuse ourselves emotionally and physically.
So, today, I ask you to believe. Believe in the power of you. Believe that you are enough. Believe that you are worthy of love and belonging. Today, and forevermore, I choose to believe that I AM ENOUGH! I am worth it! And so are you! BELIEVE!
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