Vulnerability

I can definitely say that, especially as a man, vulnerability is a very difficult state for me to let others see me in. Society has conditioned me to be stone faced, to have my guard up, to erect and maintain a series of walls around me. I've built up a pretty thick shell, and allowing my soft side to see the light of day is no easy task. I think this is largely because the more vulnerable I allow myself to be, the more pain I'll experience should someone take advantage of or wound me when I've allowed myself to be in such a wide open position. While it can be profoundly frightening and at times risky to be vulnerable, we all need to do it from time to time if we truly want to understand ourselves. We need to learn how to let others in and how to allow them to build us up and make us stronger through accepting our weakness at times. Unfortunately, we will inevitably be wounded at some point when we let someone in. We will be taken advantage of, and we will be hurt, but that's not a reason or an excuse to never allow ourselves to be open. The way I see it, we don't have to tear our walls down all together, but we do need to learn how to create gates and how to let others pass through them in the right instances. To reiterate; it's not easy to be vulnerable, but sometimes it's imperative for our growth. I don't see vulnerability as a sign of weakness, rather I see it as something that, while needs to be selectively allowed, is a practice that will prominently improve our understanding of our own emotions and our truest core self.