The Courage to be Real

Nothing more vulnerable than soap bubbles, right?

How about the human heart?

Whoa. Now let's not get hasty right?  But our feelings, who we are, our vulnerabilities, are so suspect that sometimes our whole lives are  invested into teflon-coating those things that make us, us!!  into protecting ourselves from being hurt, and in so doing ... hurting ourselves.  So we hide.

Why?   Why hide?   Because we've been hurt by being vulnerable, that is why.  At one time or another in our lives, we've been open with someone, maybe a whole lot of someones, and we were hurt, abandoned, abused, rejected, disrespected, ignored, neglected, and/or attacked.  And my guess it is by someone we were supposed to be able to trust.  A parent, sibling, relative, "friend" - or someone in authority.
So we hide.  We vow to ourselves that we will not ever be hurt again and we cut off the experience of feeling bad or sad.  Ever.

The problem with that is . . . when we cut off access to one emotion, they all get cut off.  And then we find it difficult or impossible to experience joy, love, intimacy. 

I used to be the kind of person who prided myself on not feeling anything.  On not expressing - or even feeling - any negative emotion.  At the same time, I was dying inside of loneliness, a dry, dusty and heart-numbing death.  Not any more.

I recently watched a video by a researcher; it was 20 minutes long. I'm including it below because it is well worth the listen.  Dr. Brown is so very entertaining to listen to, and her message is one that gets passed over or even discounted by those who want so desperately to believe that they have all the answers - or even that they know Someone who does.  When she says that we need to believe that we are enough - or any of the other things she says we are - as Christians I know we are mature enough to say (1) God don't make junk and (2) we are  [ ___ fill in the blank ____ ] in Him. Keep in mind too, that Jesus told us to love our neighbors AS OURSELVES - and if we don't love ourselves well, it will be impossible to obey that commandment.  This video might open a few doors toward the fulfillment of the kind of life Jesus wanted us to have.  


Watch and listen - with an open mind and an open heart.