“You need to stay strong and don’t be that vulnerable person in the room that everyone makes fun of”- that’s what we have always heard since our childhood. And we have been following this for so long that we’ve forgotten to discover our true self and started considering the vulnerability a sign of weakness.
You accept it or not, but staying strong always is not possible and if you disapprove of this, you certainly are telling a lie.
To show a fake image of a strong person, you pretend to be happy, you resist your true emotions and that eventually makes you a weaker person.
Of course, every one of us likes to be strong and it’s actually a good thing, but not always!
Being Vulnerable is a Sign of Strength, Not Weakness: 7 reasons why
Being vulnerable is also very important for your good mental health. And, do you know being vulnerable could be your biggest strength too?
Let me tell you some instances of my life of how being vulnerable helped me achieve what I`m today. And in the process, I really discovered that you should not try to control your true feelings.
1.) Vulnerability Helps You Overcome Fear
Imagine being able to do things that you fear the most. Drowning is one such fear that I wanted to overcome. Actually, it was the pleasure I want to have to be able to swim. But I was vulnerable with the fear of getting drowned in the process of learning to swim.
But, you won`t believe it, because of being so vulnerable, I learned how to swim properly. Do you know how I did it? Yes, by actually drowning myself!
In the process of learning to swim, I felt vulnerable to not making the progress even after doing the drills for many days. At that desperate moment, I decided to measure my progress by swimming in deep waters without a training board.
Silly me and the result you can guess, I drowned. It is during that worst vulnerable moment and desperate to save me, I applied what I have learned in my drills.
I was able to save myself and learned how to swim. My vulnerability helped me overcome my fear.
2.) Vulnerability Builds Confidence
To this day, I remember the pressure and excitement of closing my first sale as a network marketer in a multilevel marketing company. What a vulnerable salesperson I was at that time!
My first sale took 3 months and the next 12 sales took only 2 months. And this became possible because I was vulnerable at first.
During that first closing, I was feeling so jittery and nervous that I would go all wrong and would mess the chance of closing my first client. And then I got the first sale and learned to deal with my vulnerability.
But do you know how I learned to deal with my vulnerability? How I was so confident about the next 12 sales?
I was able to achieve it so quickly because I was confident. And that confidence came due to the fact that I have learned to deal with my vulnerability by being vulnerable in the first place.
Also read: 35 Kickass Ways To Take Charge Of Your Married Life
3.) Being Vulnerable You become Courageous
Yes, vulnerability can teach you to be courageous. In this section, I am going to tell you the story of my friend who got courage due to being vulnerable.
For a skinny guy being six feet tall who feels most vulnerable in the school in front of other guys, he chooses to recognize his vulnerability and decided to work upon it.
He decided that he would be joining a gym. And the irony was the vulnerability came back on the first day again after joining the gym.
His mind was pushing him, “Look at all those jacked dudes! What am I doing wrong, why don`t I look like these guys?”
This vulnerable guy started working out slowly and slowly. And with persistent dedication over years, he achieved what he desired, the courage to withstand vulnerability.
Not only that, but he also invested in a good treadmill and a couple of fitness equipment later to set up his own home gym. And guess what? Today he is a very good professional gym trainer who has a good no. of clients both offline and online.
And this courage came in the first place because he was vulnerable once!
Showing up even if you don’t want to and making it happen is a sure sign of courage and you can achieve it by being vulnerable.
4.) Vulnerability Lets You Become More Resilient
Every time we hear of instances of bullying in schools and colleges. Do you know how these bullies are able to bully people? They bully by capitalizing on the vulnerability of that specific person.
But what if you can make peace with your vulnerability? You will become resilient. Do you think, once you start to open up to yourself and about your vulnerability? Can anyone capitalize on your flaws and weaknesses?
Certainly, no one can!
5.) Vulnerability Provides Contentment
It’s perfectly alright to suck at things. No one can be perfect in everything and neither can you. You may be doing a job that you feel vulnerable to getting fired from.
But deep down you know that you suck at this job and really don’t like it too. You always wanted to do something else.
So, it is better you accept this vulnerability of yours and look for something you are good at. If you keep on doing the thing you don’t like, you will be going to end up terrible.
And, if you accept your vulnerability; you can make a transition and have a chance to make your life better.
6.) Being Vulnerable You Become Self Aware
Being open to your vulnerabilities, you can help grow yourself on a personal level. Suppose you have a bad habit of say, smoking and this makes you feel vulnerable all the time.
You can recognize your vulnerability and motivate yourself to make the necessary changes.
But for a person who doesn’t feel vulnerable about smoking? Can he be able to make changes and ever quit smoking? No, such a person is not able to realize the need for a change.
7.) Vulnerability Lets You Take Risks
Being vulnerable, you are actually at the bottom. Your only desire is to rise and in that situation, you only give your best shot, and eventually, you get success.
When you are not vulnerable, you always have a play it safe attitude which never lets you take risks.
Wrapping Up
Being vulnerable is not a sign of weakness. And you discover your true self when you are the most vulnerable. So unbuckle your shiny armor, and ditch your always strong attitude to actually discover your true strength by exposing yourself to vulnerability.
Let yourself be a free bird and choose to be vulnerable in vulnerable situations!
Srishti Gupta is a mental health and fitness blogger and the founder of TrendToFit, a blog that helps you stay fit physically and mentally.
