When I was younger I used to think I was really good at games like hide and seek. I was so tiny I could find the smallest places to hide and curl up in a little ball. I thought I was so cool because no one could ever find me.
Vulnerability is not a fun word to talk about. In fact, I’m cringing every time I type it. It makes people uncomfortable. It reminds them of everything they are keeping inside away from the rest of the world.
Is it really that terrible? The voice in the back of my head just screamed yes as loud as it could, but the rest of my mind knows better. Is vulnerability really anything more than just embracing life? When you define it like that it doesn’t sound so terrible.
Embracing life.
I want to be able to say I embrace life with full force, like crashing into a wave as you run into the ocean. It’s equal parts fun and terrifying.It’s not that easy though is it? We learn from a young age to protect ourselves. Often times around middle school we learn how much others can hurt us. We learn the power words have over us. We learn the power that speaking too many words can have on our lives. It’s human nature to try and protect ourselves from future pain. Who actually is okay with being hurt over and over again by people? No one. However, I think we have started over compensating, me included.
You’re not winning or succeeding at anything by being too scared of vulnerability and pain. All you’re doing is missing out on everything life has to offer. I think we’ve forgotten about the second part of pain. With pain comes healing, beauty, and growth. Some of the most beautiful things come out of places of pain.
So much art, literature, and music is inspired by times when people are struggling and feel pain. If it wasn’t for JK Rowling going through the death of a parent and a rough life, we wouldn’t have the Harry Potter series. Think of all of the beautiful songs that have come from artists going through breakups. Would we even have Taylor Swift if it wasn’t for the pain she felt during break-ups? However, she decided to push on, embrace life, and be vulnerable.
If it’s the fear of pain that’s holding us back from embracing life, it’s important to remember that we’re supposed to feel pain. Feeling pain can save our lives. When we feel pain our brain tells us we are in danger and need to do something about it. We shouldn’t, we can’t let ourselves be scared of feeling pain. We aren’t unbreakable. Life happens, we make mistakes, we get hurt. We have to stop dwelling on the bad. We need to be more optimistic about our lives. We need to be more optimistic about our world. Negativity and fear just breeds more negativity and fear, and we weren’t created to live in a world of fear.
Living in fear of pain drives us away from everyone else. It forces us to build massive walls and keep everyone out because we never know who will hurt us next. That is not a healthy way to live. We are built to thrive off community and others. We aren’t built to go through life alone.
Vulnerability is embracing life, because that means embracing everything that comes our way in life good or bad, happy or sad. It takes courage, but boy is it worth. It will be hard but it’s possible. I think it’s time we start having a positive outlook on life and come to terms with the fact that yes people we love will hurt us from time to time. We need to remember life goes on and we have the power to forgive and grow. Life begins to become a whole lot easier if we learn to forgive, forget, and grow.When I found those tiny hiding places away from the world while playing hiding seek I would sit and sit waiting for someone to find me. I kept hoping someone would find me so I could share my hiding place. Maybe then I wouldn’t feel so alone. After a while I found myself longing to be found so I wouldn’t be alone. I always ended up feeling like I was missing out on the fun that was happening outside of my hiding place.
It’s time to step out of our hiding places and join in on the life that is happening all around us.
