“If you are always trying to be normal you will never know how amazing you can be.”
– Maya Angelou
Dear Family and Friends,
As I said on Sunday, being vulnerable will always feel vulnerable. With practice, we step into our courage in deeper ways. When we are vulnerable with those we trust, we invite them to be vulnerable.
What would happen if you began to be courageously vulnerable? You would start showing up differently because you allow some of those hidden parts to be seen. What are some examples? Even if it feels awkward, show that you care. You may not want to but ask for help. You wish you knew their thoughts, so be the first to open up. It’s okay if you’re not good at it, do it anyway – no one starts as an expert. Feel your feelings, all of them. Feel them deeply. You do not have to explain them. You are not required to explain “No.” Assume others are trustworthy until proven otherwise. Clarify your boundaries. Only say yes to your yeses. You do not have to explain No.
What will others say or do? Probably nothing. Our biggest risk is their reaction. And this is where we feel vulnerable; how others react is out of our control. And always will be. As we love ourselves more fully and practice being vulnerable, we will become less sensitive to the opinions of others.
The Velveteen Rabbit was Rev. Cynthia Clair’s favorite children’s book, she is the founding Minister of our Center.
A passage from The Velveteen Rabbit
by Margery Williams.
“Real isn’t how you are made,” said the Skin Horse. “It’s a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.”
“Does it hurt?” asked the Rabbit.
“Sometimes,” said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. “When you are Real, you don’t mind being hurt.”
“Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,” he asked, “or bit by bit?”
“It doesn’t happen all at once,” said the Skin Horse. “You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t happen often to people who break easily or have sharp edges or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, your eyes drop out, and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all because once you are Real, you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.”