Each one of us has felt some form of discomfort or emotional pain in our lives. This discomfort has led so many to close off, and protect themselves in fear from being fully vulnerable towards another. You may be wondering why closing your self off is such a bad thing?
Well, let us dive into what it means to be vulnerable and empathetic…
Vulnerable
adjective
- Exposed to the possibility of being attacked or harmed, either physically or emotionally.
- Vulnerability — something many of us avoid due to fear of being judged, hurt or failure.
- To be vulnerable means to put ourselves in a position that could potentially hurt us.
When you have experienced a situation in which you felt vulnerable, and another inflicts harm on you, it can leave an emotional scar. As a consequence, you may slowly begin to shut yourself off from others, and shield yourself away. In doing so, you are choosing to hide aspects of yourself in fear of being judged or harmed again.
When you are choosing to hide yourself away from others, you are choosing to hold onto your past pain, and therefore, you are choosing to re-live that attachment in any new situation that arises. Aspects of your personality may change, you may be closed off to fully experiencing being truly seen and loved by another.
To be open and vulnerable means that you are choosing to accept yourself for all that you are. It is choosing to relinquish all judgments, all fears to be your true authentic self. It is acknowledging that everyone makes mistakes, everyone has been hurt at some point, but that should not give you a reason to carry around that hurt, that guilt, that judgment.
In a relationship, it would be difficult for you to display empathy towards another, if you cannot be empathetic or forgiving towards yourself.
Which brings us to the next point. What does it mean to be empathetic?
Empathy
noun
- the ability to share someone else’s feelings or experiences by imagining what it would be like to be in that person’s situation
When you are more open and accepting towards your own mistakes, it allows you to be more open and accepting of others. This means you can place yourself in their shoes, as you can see the many mistakes you have made in your own life.
When you remove the judgment you previously held towards yourself, you do not feel so afraid of sharing you past, or showing someone all of you. It awakens a sense of freedom, and acceptance for what is, which in turn allows you to be more vulnerable and empathetic towards others. How could you possibly judge another, when you have let go of all your own judgments?
To be open and vulnerable is to open fully to love and let go of what no longer serves you.
Take Away:
- This lack of vulnerability and empathy can be toxic in a relationship.
- Slowly begin to forgive yourself for your past experiences.
- Embrace Vulnerability
- Embrace compassion
Check out our Podcast for more on Vulnerability & Empathy: https://youtu.be/hR8462oty_