When Was the Last Time You Were Truly Vulnerable?

 By Laura Borland | Submitted On August 29, 2014

As I walking past Oxford Street tube station the other day, a homeless man sat on the ground, just inside the entrance sobbing. Loudly. Because of where he was sitting, the sound of his sobbing was magnified and made even louder. It was rush hour and that's exactly what people were doing. Rushing past him. What struck me was his utter vulnerability. He was truly expressing who he was in that moment. Regardless of how he was perceived, judged or ridiculed. He didn't care. He was beyond all of that. It was a powerful and really intense moment watching him sitting there. It almost seemed like he was in a parallel universe to everyone who was rushing past him, pretending he was invisible or else so caught up in their own world that they were oblivious to him. So here is my question. When was the last time you were truly vulnerable? 

By vulnerable I mean having no barriers or defences up against the world. Just being with what is and expressing you in that moment. So often we say yes, when we mean no. We smile, when we want to cry. Stay silent, when on the inside we are screaming for help. Choose what will make it OK for the other person, not what will make it OK for us. You will know what it is for you. We spend so much of the time pretending to be something we are not. Not only to others, but also to ourselves. We all too often specialise in image. The thing about image is that it limits us and totally imprisons us. It is not real and many of us aren't even aware of when we are doing it. It doesn't feel authentic. There is some disconnect between what you can see and what you are feeling from the person. 12/27/2020 When Was the Last Time You Were Truly Vulnerable? https://ezinearticles.com/?When-Was-the-Last-Time-You-Were-Truly-Vulnerable?&id=8695725 2/2 I know someone who does image a lot in their life, and on the rare moments when they have chosen vulnerability it makes them so attractive and magnetic. It totally pulls me in - much more so than when they are doing image. See often we believe that vulnerability is weakness and not strength. Being vulnerable is risky business... or is just what we tell ourselves? 

What if being vulnerable is when we are actually at our most potent? Yes, people may not know what to do with us - but should that mean that we stop being us? No. No. No. No. No. When we are more of who we are, it really invites people to be more of who they are. Authentic connection is powerful. It is what changes worlds. Over to you So what would it take for you to begin to take a small step into vulnerability? To show up as who you truly are, not who you think you should be? Pick an are of your life and be like the curious scientist. Do something that makes you feel a little vulnerable just to see what happens. What connection could that create? What change could it inspire? What difference could you make? What else is possible that you have not yet considered?

 Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Laura_Borland/1740168