You are loved. You are completely worthy of love and belonging.Believe it!
Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek & find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it ~ Rumi
“Staying vulnerable is a risk we have to take if we want to experience connection.” writes one of my favorite teachers of all time, Brene Brown.She goes on to write, “We cannot selectively numb emotions; when we numb the painful emotions, we also numb the positive emotions.” How very true!
Watch Dr.Brown’s TED talk on the Power of Vulnerability here.
How then do we dare to be vulnerable again in relationships ? How then do you learn to trust ?
“It starts with loving yourself and learning to trust your judgment, treating yourself with love, respect, compassion, and kindness. Once you do that, you can bring forward your true self, with all your vulnerabilities, and realize it’s okay to fight for your chance at meaningful relationships without carrying all that heavyweight in your heart.”
When you have self-love, you’re able to open up and accept love from others once you’ve healed from the pain.
That love will serve as a bulletproof vest. It will allow you to be vulnerable and open to the possibility of caring for another person. That’s why being vulnerable is a strength, not a weakness that needs to be hidden from the world. Once you learn that feeling emotions, including pain, is part of the human experience, you’ll be better able to love, get hurt, heal, and love all over again
Allowing yourself to be vulnerable requires you to open up the parts of you that you closed off after being hurt.Vulnerability is hard to express because it involves accessing parts of yourself that others may have disapproved of. But when you have a strong sense of self, it won’t matter how others view you, because you’ll be aware of and open to your vulnerabilities.
Since you deeply and solidly love yourself, you’ll no longer need approval from others. It takes a lot of strength to honor all the parts of you, regardless of the opinions of others.” says, Dr.Cohen, a psychotherapist.
So tell me, what would you do differently in this month of love ? would you treat yourself kindly, a little gentler perhaps than you did earlier, letting all the other opinions matter? Compassion begins with you. Start today !
You are loved!
Some of my favorite books from Dr. Brené Brown, for yourself or to gift to your loved one in this season of love.