Our society has mastered the idea that being vulnerable is a weakness. When you show your vulnerability, people immediately seem think less of you. They think because you are vulnerable you won’t be able to complete your job at the highest proficiency, you will be too emotional to have a serious conversation, or you will take everything personally. These are assumptions that lead to people being afraid to show the type of person they are.
Being vulnerable is something you should not be afraid of. Being vulnerable is part of being human. As a people we were created to have relationships; both in kinship and romance. Both types of relationships have their trials. But each has something you can only get by being involved, and that is connection. A life without connection is a life full of sorrow. We are meant to be in the company of others. We need communication to thrive. Love is all around us whether we chose to see it or believe it. Our world is built on not what you know but who you know. To be a human is to be vulnerable. This does not always mean in the sense of relationships. You are vulnerable when you go into a job interview, there is a chance you will not get it and will have to deal with the rejection but that is a risk we take to succeed.
If we want others to be honest with us, we need to be honest with them. And in order to be 100% honest, that means being vulnerable. One of the first rules we learn as we grow up is this, “Do unto others, as you would have them do unto you” Matthew 7:12. We need to embrace our childhood innocence and not be afraid for what the world has instore. The world is an amazing place, we need to not be afraid for what it can offer us.
