Today’s Challenge ~ Ask yourself, what do I model for those around me?
Always do your best…..lean into your vulnerability. If you haven’t been raised to do this, then you will struggle with the feelings that come with vulnerability. You will continually sabotage joy, by imagining what could go wrong. Not a powerful way to live. Too often, parents try to protect their children from experiencing any kind of disappointment, vulnerability, or discomfort. They demand that every child be given an award for participation, even though this has nothing to do with real life. They do everything within their power to prevent their children from experiencing any kind of pain and in so doing they take away the child’s ability to build their resilience. They inadvertently teach them that foreboding joy, is a great way to mitigate vulnerability.
At the root of this thinking is the misunderstanding of life. That somehow we can hold off the bad things in life, by anticipating them and trying to prevent them from happening. When in fact, the answer lies in our ability to be in the moment, to feel joy, to feel happiness and to be grateful for that joy now. Joy comes to us in small and seemingly insignificant ways. If we can find the joy in those simple moments, then we create a safe space for us to just be. We learn to be happy with where we are, what we have, and where we’re going. This in turn helps us to navigate the rougher terrain we will undoubtedly encounter as our lives progress. Today, accept that life holds great uncertainty, great joy, and extraordinary moments. But most of all know that, the more you lean in, the stronger you will be.
Brene Brown said “It starts to make sense that we dismiss vulnerability as weakness only when we realize that we’ve confused feeling with failing and emotions with liabilities. If we want to reclaim the essential emotional part of our lives and reignite our passion and purpose, we have to learn how to own and engage with our vulnerability and how to feel the emotions that come with it. Far from being an effective shield, the illusion of invulnerability undermines the very response that would have supplied genuine protection.”
By Lisa Scott Executive/Life Coach