Vulnerability Is Strength: 3 Steps To Embracing & Activating Your Deepest Insecurities

“A woman sits on a mat on the ground, praying, in the Mandalay Region” by Guilherme Romano on Unsplash

I went mute for almost an entire year in sixth grade. I didn’t speak to almost anyone outside of my family.

I’m not sure what happened exactly — I just stopped talking. Now that I think about it, I probably need to tug a little more on that string and figure out what the heck that was about.

But that’s beside the point.

I share this thought because I know I’m not alone. We all have the tendency to mute ourselves — to turn down and even silence pieces of who we are. We do it all the time.

You are this person at the office. And you’re that person at home watching Netflix. You are this person at a bar with your college friends. And that person in your place of worship. This. That. This. That.

Compounded over time, this shape-shifting — or posturing — really screws us up. Big time. Because we are always lying, hiding, or omitting something. We feel like imposters in our own bodies. In the worst cases, this behavior leads to debilitating anxiety and depression. Even suicide.

If you see the world as I do, then your gut tells you this is the wrong way to live life. We aren’t supposed to be in pain all of the time.