Embracing Vulnerabilities Shape You Up

Vulnerabilities, what are they? Are they your flaws? Your weaknesses? 


Or like someone said, are they simply the cracks in your soul which allow the light to pass through? 


Are your vulnerabilities something you should be afraid of? Something you must hide – so people don’t take you for granted? Or are they something you should be proud of, and celebrate them just like you celebrate the other, ‘stronger’ parts about yourself? 


Maybe these are questions that one can contemplate till all eternity and even then be unable to resolve them. Or maybe, we already have the answers to these questions within ourselves and all we need to do is look deeper. 


Your vulnerabilities do not make you weak. It is quite the contrary, our vulnerabilities are a pleasant (thought mostly they seem not so pleasant) reminder of the fact that we are after all humans. Being vulnerable is a beautiful reminder of the fact that you possess the capacity to feel a range of emotions. And accepting the fact that not all emotions will bring us joy, or happiness is central to us being human. While we cannot control the incidents which contribute to our vulnerabilities, we can look back, learn from them and embrace them.


Without our vulnerabilities, we would be invincible. When life is giving us lemons, we might wish for invincibility, we do wish to be shielded from all harm and everything bad, which is but natural. But when we’ve gone a bit far in life, and learnt a lesson or two, we realize in retrospect that it was precisely those incidents which have shaped much of who we are today.

Circumstances are not something we can wish away. What we can do, however, is teach ourselves to be grateful for all the experiences that these circumstances bring along. Life has its ways of constantly testing us, and somewhere along the road, learning to let go of all the bitterness we harbor in our hearts is something that we all owe ourselves. Embracing our vulnerabilities is one way of doing it. No one is perfect, we’re all just trying to figure out the best way to play this game called life. But maybe there is no “best” way, maybe the only way to do it is the way we’re already doing it. And why do it any differently when this is our own beautiful way of living life – even if it entails being vulnerable every now and then. 


The fear of being taken for granted is a real one, and of course no one likes being taken for granted. That said, maybe there are certain things which are beyond our control, and the harder we try to control certain things, the more they spiral out of control. Make peace with your vulnerabilities. Because then you make peace with yourself – and with all the bits that come together to make you the beautiful being you are.


By being aware and conscious of your vulnerabilities, you don’t make yourself more vulnerable; rather, you start wearing your vulnerabilities with a smile. Because you understand that while you may be vulnerable, and while there are things that will pull you down, you know yourself well enough to overcome anything that comes your way. And that’s the kind of invincibility that is absolutely worth aspiring for!