Your Vulnerability is Showing

1. Vulnerable
2. 1. capable of or susceptible to being wounded or hurt, as by a weapon: a vulnerable part of the body.
3. 
   
4. 2. open to moral attack, criticism, temptation, etc.:an argument vulnerable to refutation; He is vulnerable to bribery.

3. (of a place) open to assault; difficult to defend:a vulnerable bridge.

When you think of relationships, love, the new crush, feelings, or any of that schmoozey bullshit what comes to mind first? If you’re like me the first thing that pops up in your head is the word “vulnerable.” Talk about my biggest fear, which is why I opened up with the terrible dictionary dot com definition of it. When I think of being vulnerable it has nothing to do with physical pain, or being a bridge, (obviously) it has everything to do with number 2 though. Being vulnerable makes me feel naked, but not the kind of naked where everyone sees my private square, because honestly I don’t mind being naked. I’m talking emotionally naked. I let one person in and all of a sudden they get to see my scars? My fears? My regrets? My mistakes? My tears? My true joys? Not only can they see them now but they’re supposed to be ok with them? Not judge me for them? Still let me in, and love me no matter what? F**k around…

So what do you do? Do you give into this fear and let the schmoozey stuff in? Or do you give into your fear and stay closed up, hidden?

Everyone’s answer to these questions are going to be different. If they were all the same we would be faceless minions all walking around in the same circle. Here’s my answer, Let it in. Let him in, let her in. let love in. Be vulnerable. Scare the s**t out of yourself and everyone else.

Here’s why….

1. Life is too damn short.

Super cliché, I’m well aware of that but it’s the truth. Life is short, tomorrow could be your last day, so go for that run, work towards your goals, and flash a smile at the stranger in the mall. What do you have to lose? Oh…that’s right…nothing.

2. Wasting your time sucks

Now you may think that these two reasons are the same, but they aren’t. Think of it this way. You and your crush have an amazing first date, second date, third date, and you’re still scared. Nothing wrong with it, but you’re still hiding the burps, that weird snort thing you do when you laugh real hard, and not to mention your crazy a*s family. It’s time to peel back those layers and let your vulnerability hang loose. You may find out they think your snort is an easy excuse to pack up and get the F*** out before stuff gets real. (Which is fine because there are plenty of fish in the sea) As scary as it is though, you might find out they love your intimidating cat loving mom and you guys find common ground in sending poop snapchats back and forth. Life’s a gamble, but you can’t win if you don’t bet.

3. You have nothing to lose and everything to learn.

Say it works out, you get to continually learn about yourself, and how you thrive in life while sharing it with someone else. You’ll get to see how you needed the single life you had, to grow into the person someone else needed.

It could go the opposite way though, and we all know heart break sucks. Especially once you’ve let that vulnerability hang low and to the left, but one thing you have to admit is every time it happens you learn more about yourself, and you grow from it. Also my mother told me something after my first heartbreak, “Michaela jean you had a happy life before him, you had a happy life with him, you can find that happiness in life after him.”

In short be vulnerable, be scared, live on the edge, love with everything you have, and if something goes wrong, absorb it and grow from it. Move past it, laugh at it, and smile at that cute stranger. Hell why not even re-download tinder?

-xo