Vulnerability, acceptance and courage - the ingredients for living life on your own terms

Vulnerability

There are three parts to vulnerability - risk, uncertainty and emotional exposure. To be fully ourselves can feel risky. We may be judged, rejected or loved and that carries an element of uncertainty. When we put our ideas out into the world we can't predict the reaction. Also to fully be ourselves and connect with other people comes with exposing ourselves emotionally too. Running my business and showing up here is hugely vulnerable for me I can tell you. Maybe you feel vulnerable speaking up in a meeting at work, or asking for help, or creating something and sharing it with others. To live a full life requires some degree of vulnerability.

Acceptance

Accepting who we are and letting go of who we’re not. Letting go of the way we think we should do things and doing it our way requires acceptance and lots of self-compassion. I have learned over the years to accept that just because something works for somebody else doesn't mean it will work for me, and I have to carve out my own way of doing things otherwise if I force myself into doing it the wrong way for me it feels unbearable (like a really itchy jumper).

Courage

It takes guts to live life on your own terms. Sometimes it can feel a bit lonely too. People may not like it and we may lose friends, but the more we show up as ourselves the more we attract like-minded people and create a sense of belonging.

If you haven't read 'The top 5 regrets of the dying' by Bronnie Ware I definitely recommend it. Bronnie was a palliative care nurse and researched the most common regrets people had at the end of their lives. One of them was this...

'I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me'

Pretty powerful isn't it.

I don't want to get to the end of my days and regret not being fully myself and doing the things that truly make me happy and I don't want that for you either.