Quotes About Vulnerability

You can't fully grow and contribute behind armor. It takes a massive amount of energy just to carry it around—sometimes it takes all of our energy.

We cannot ignore our pain and feel compassion for it at the same time.

lest she be blown away by a capricious wind.

target cringing abjectly

Always having to rely on herself, she had a hard time accepting the kindness of others, and her first instinct was always to say no.

This is the kind of person you marry—someone who loves the worst parts of you, someone who knows how to make you laugh even when you're mad as hell.

I am strong, but I am tired, Stephen, tired of always having to be the strong one, of always having to do the right thing.

hurt you, or you could hurt me—" "That's the risk with any relationship. People change. We can only judge by what we feel now.

Where can we go if not to each other, resenting every step?

I've been melted into something too easy to spill. I make more and more of myself in order to make more and more of the baby. He takes it, this making. And somehow he's made more of me, too.

Every story matters...We are all worthy of telling our stories and having them heard. We all need to be seen and honored in the same way that we all need to breathe.

Owning our story can be hard but not nearly as difficult as spending our lives running from it. Embracing our vulnerabilities is risky but not nearly as dangerous as giving up on love and belonging and joy—the experiences that make us the most vulnerable. Only when we are brave enough to explore the darkness will we discover the infinite power of our light.

Authenticity is a collection of choices that we have to make every day. It's about the choice to show up and be real. The choice to be honest. The choice to let our true selves be seen.

You are imperfect, you are wired for struggle, but you are worthy of love and belonging.

Vulnerability is the birthplace of innovation, creativity and change.

Shame corrodes the very part of us that believes we are capable of change.

If we share our shame story with the wrong person, they can easily become one more piece of flying debris in an already dangerous storm.

Until we can receive with an open heart, we are never really giving with an open heart.

Shame works like the zoom lens on a camera. When we are feeling shame, the camera is zoomed in tight and all we see is our flawed selves, alone and struggling.(page 68)

Those who feel lovable, who love, and who experience belonging simply believe they are worthy of love and belonging. I often say that Wholeheartedness is like the North Star: We never really arrive, but we certainly know if we're headed in the right direction.

When we stop caring about what people think, we lose our capacity for connection. When we become defined by what people think, we lose our willingness to be vulnerable.

We cannot selectively numb emotions, when we numb the painful emotions, we also numb the positive emotions. Vulnerability sounds like truth and feels like courage. Truth and courage aren't always comfortable, but they're never weakness.

In its original Latin form, sacrifice means to make sacred or to make holy. I wholeheartedly believe that when we are fully engaged in parenting, regardless of how imperfect, vulnerable, and messy it is, we are creating something sacred.

When we're suffering, may of us are better at causing pain than feeling it. We spread hurt rather than let it inside.