Being Vulnerable

[janbear]

You are reading from the book The Language of Letting Go.
Melody Beattie

Being Vulnerable

Part of recovery means learning to share ourselves with other
people. We learn to admit our mistakes and expose our
imperfections -- not so that others can fix us, rescue us, or feel
sorry for us, but so we can love and accept ourselves. This
sharing is a catalyst in healing and changing.

Many of us are fearful of sharing our imperfections because
that makes us vulnerable. Some of us have tried being
vulnerable in the past, and people tried to control, manipulate,
or exploit us, or they made us feel ashamed.

Some of us in recovery have hurt ourselves by being
vulnerable. We may have shared things with people who
didn't respect our confidence. Or we may have told the wrong
people at an inappropriate time, and scared them away.

We learn from our mistakes -- and despite our mistakes, it
is still a good thing to allow ourselves to be vulnerable and
honest. We can learn to choose safe people with whom to
share ourselves. We can learn to share appropriately, so we
don't scare or push people away. We can also learn to let
others be vulnerable with us.

Today, God, help me learn to be appropriately vulnerable. I
will not let others exploit or shame me for being vulnerable,
and I will not exploit myself