Weakness & Strength

"Your brokenness is someone else's breakthrough that is dependent upon your vulnerability." 

-Lyle Philips

My dear friend shared this quote on Facebook just a day after I had a deep conversation with another friend of mine on the very subject of vulnerability. As I've shared multiple times before, I've been a very insecure person in the past. The process of becoming confident has been like getting to the core of an onion, peeling off one layer of lies at a time. An insecure person can't really love others fully, because you can't give what you don't have. I've been blessed with ridiculously talented and inspiring people around me and I am confident that all of my friends are going to change the world, each one in their own special way. So when I was still mostly listening to the voices of fear, I was nothing less than intimidated by the greatness in them. I wasn't really able to celebrate their victories, because I was afraid they were removing them from my grasp. I believed that there wasn't enough for everyone and we were competing for the same spots and the limited attention achieved by it. 

The other night we were talking the night away with my friend on our favourite subject, what it is to be a strong woman, why women keep on competing with each other and how the world will be a different place when women stand united, not only with each other but with men as well. In the moment I felt very powerful and decided to be vulnerable and share how just recently I had had a moment were I envied her. And in the past there had been more than just moments, she is such an amazing and inspiring person that I had felt small next to her quite a few times. She shared how she had  felt the same way about me and I couldn't believe my ears. Why would this stunning woman ever feel in any ways insecure around me? It felt like a scheme was revealed, like someone was trying to keep us at a distance from each other so that the power of us coming together and using our strengths as one would never happen.

That moment of vulnerability opened up something so rich and deep that I've been unraveling it for days after. It created a breakthrough for both of us that we have only seen the beginning of.

We often fear that when we reveal our weaknesses it could destroy us, but it's often the polar opposite. I've shared about the effects on being vulnerable on this blog before, how it releases us from shame and neutralises the power our fears and negative thoughts can have over us. It liberates us to be completely free. Even though with being vulnerable there are numerous benefits for ourselves, it doesn't only stop there. We don't realise how so many others are walking through the same issues and us opening our mouth can actually set them free as well. So many people out there are going through life thinking they are the only ones battling with certain issues, when in reality most of us deal with very similar stuff. That is one of the reasons why I even wanted to start writing this blog. Walking through the trenches of growing up to becoming the woman I am today has been quite a battle for me and I noticed how so many around me were fighting the same fights. If my journey can give hope to even one person, I am more than grateful!

Vulnerability and strength are very much tied in together and I believe that to become as powerful as our potential would let us, we need to be able to embrace them both. When we're not afraid or ashamed of our weaknesses, we will discover the strength to change the world.

xxx

Photos by Adriana Dobrin

Knit: Zara

Leather Pants: Rock'n'Blu

Handbag: Michael Kors

Shoes: Zara

Sunglasses: Rayban