"Vulnerability is not weakness"....

Vulnerability is likely the single best measurement of courage.  But most people think of Vulnerability as weakness and with that tend to stay away from being vulnerable, or exposing themselves for who and what they are.  And when this happens, we lose touch with who our true selves are, what our true talents are, what our true desires are.

How many times have you been inspired to do something, write something, express your opinion, stand up for something you thought was right or stand up to something you thought was wrong?   But then rather than doing that something, sitting down and writing, expressing your feelings, supporting what you believe in or taking a back seat on an issue you felt was wrong, you avoided or suppressed the inspiration?  If you're like most people, too often.

Who am I to speak my mind, write something, create a piece of art, stand up for what I believe in?  Those are all thoughts emerging from shame, "I'm not creative enough, I'm not strong enough, I'm not an authority on this thing".  Well, where did Da Vinci get his talents?   How did Martin Luther King Jr. create such a large organized peaceful movement?  How did Steve Jobs create Apple?  They put themselves out there and kept doing it after each failure........and you know what, none of them were perfect!

Put yourself out there, stretch yourself....and that doesn't mean to be stupid about it and just argue with someone you don't agree with.  Just simply say;  "I see it this way, what is it that causes you to see it your way?  And do it with an openness to where the other person is coming from in order to understand.  You can still hold your opinion.

Creativity is a huge embracer of vulnerability.  Creating something that has never existed is really putting yourself out there.  Be it something physical or a new policy or a new approach to interacting with customers or even a Blog.  What have you go to lose?  Only the thing you don't endeavor to create!  And when it fails or does not work out, try something different.

"The Dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present.  The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion.  As our case is new, so we must think anew, and act anew.  We must dis-enthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country."  Abraham Lincoln 

I love that quote, "we must dis-enthrall ourselves...." Dis-enthrall means to free from a controlling force or influence......that being our avoidance of Vulnerability and the shame that prevents us from embracing Vulnerability as an innate part of who we are