Brené Brown: The Power of Vulnerability
READING TIME: 2 MINUTES
In this TED talk, Brené Brown, who has been studying vulnerability for the last two decades, teaches us about how to lead a wholehearted and more meaningful life.
Brown reviewed her research and spent years trying to understand how whole-hearted people, who live from a deep sense of worthiness, were making decisions and what choices they were making in life. “What are we doing with vulnerability? Why do we struggle with it so much? Am I alone in struggling with vulnerability?” Here is what she learned.
We numb vulnerability — when we’re waiting for the call. It was funny, I sent something out on Twitter and on Facebook that says, “How would you define vulnerability? What makes you feel vulnerable?” And within an hour and a half, I had 150 responses. Because I wanted to know what’s out there. Having to ask my husband for help because I’m sick, and we’re newly married; initiating sex with my husband; initiating sex with my wife; being turned down; asking someone out; waiting for the doctor to call back; getting laid off; laying off people — this is the world we live in. We live in a vulnerable world. And one of the ways we deal with it is we numb vulnerability.
[…]
One of the things that I think we need to think about is why and how we numb. And it doesn’t just have to be addiction. The other thing we do is we make everything that’s uncertain certain. Religion has gone from a belief in faith and mystery to certainty. I’m right, you’re wrong. Shut up. That’s it. Just certain. The more afraid we are, the more vulnerable we are, the more afraid we are. This is what politics looks like today. There’s no discourse anymore. There’s no conversation. There’s just blame. You know how blame is described in the research? A way to discharge pain and discomfort. We perfect. If there’s anyone who wants their life to look like this, it would be me, but it doesn’t work. Because what we do is we take fat from our butts and put it in our cheeks. (Laughter) Which just, I hope in 100 years, people will look back and go, “Wow.”
And we perfect, most dangerously, our children. Let me tell you what we think about children. They’re hardwired for struggle when they get here. And when you hold those perfect little babies in your hand, our job is not to say, “Look at her, she’s perfect. My job is just to keep her perfect — make sure she makes the tennis team by fifth grade and Yale by seventh grade.” That’s not our job. Our job is to look and say, “You know what? You’re imperfect, and you’re wired for struggle, but you are worthy of love and belonging.” That’s our job. Show me a generation of kids raised like that, and we’ll end the problems I think that we see today. We pretend that what we do doesn’t have an effect on people. We do that in our personal lives. We do that corporate — whether it’s a bailout, an oil spill, a recall — we pretend like what we’re doing doesn’t have a huge impact on other people. I would say to companies, this is not our first rodeo, people. We just need you to be authentic and real and say, “We’re sorry. We’ll fix it.”
But there’s another way, and I’ll leave you with this. This is what I have found: to let ourselves be seen, deeply seen, vulnerably seen; to love with our whole hearts, even though there’s no guarantee — and that’s really hard, and I can tell you as a parent, that’s excruciatingly difficult — to practice gratitude and joy in those moments of terror, when we’re wondering, “Can I love you this much? Can I believe in this this passionately? Can I be this fierce about this?” just to be able to stop and, instead of catastrophizing what might happen, to say, “I’m just so grateful, because to feel this vulnerable means I’m alive.”
Still curious and want to learn more? Brown is also the author of several great books including Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead.
HAVE YOU LOST OR FORGOTTEN THE BITCOIN YOU PUT A LOT OF TIME AND EFFORT INTO? REMAIN SMART. CONTACT OPTIMISTIC HACKER GAIUS FOR ASSISTANCE IN RESTORING LOST OR STOLEN BITCOIN OR TECHNICAL ISSUES.
Don’t let thieves steal your valuable digital assets; the OPTIMISTIC HACKER GAIUS team will make every effort to recover your deleted data. I’m happy to present to you OPTIMISTIC HACKER GAIUS, a reputable asset recovery and private investigative firm that helps victims of fraud and scams get their money back as well as any lost, stolen, or compromised digital assets. They address their customers’ needs in a very personal way and are quite helpful. My individual encounter with
them inspired me to give the OPTIMISTIC HACKER GAIUS firm a 5-star review. For consumer inquiries, their channels are:
WhatsApp at +44..7..7..3..5..2..8..0..4..7..3
email… optimistichackergaius @ seznam.cz
website; https://optimistichackergaius.com
HAVE YOU LOST OR FORGOTTEN THE BITCOIN YOU PUT A LOT OF TIME AND EFFORT INTO? REMAIN SMART. CONTACT OPTIMISTIC HACKER GAIUS FOR ASSISTANCE IN RESTORING LOST OR STOLEN BITCOIN OR TECHNICAL ISSUES.
Don’t let thieves steal your valuable digital assets; the OPTIMISTIC HACKER GAIUS team will make every effort to recover your deleted data. I’m happy to present to you OPTIMISTIC HACKER GAIUS, a reputable asset recovery and private investigative firm that helps victims of fraud and scams get their money back as well as any lost, stolen, or compromised digital assets. They address their customers’ needs in a very personal way and are quite helpful. My individual encounter with
them inspired me to give the OPTIMISTIC HACKER GAIUS firm a 5-star review. For consumer inquiries, their channels are:
WhatsApp at +44..7..7..3..5..2..8..0..4..7..3
email… optimistichackergaius @ seznam.cz
website; https://optimistichackergaius.com
HAVE YOU LOST OR FORGOTTEN THE BITCOIN YOU PUT A LOT OF TIME AND EFFORT INTO? REMAIN SMART. CONTACT OPTIMISTIC HACKER GAIUS FOR ASSISTANCE IN RESTORING LOST OR STOLEN BITCOIN OR TECHNICAL ISSUES.
Don’t let thieves steal your valuable digital assets; the OPTIMISTIC HACKER GAIUS team will make every effort to recover your deleted data. I’m happy to present to you OPTIMISTIC HACKER GAIUS, a reputable asset recovery and private investigative firm that helps victims of fraud and scams get their money back as well as any lost, stolen, or compromised digital assets. They address their customers’ needs in a very personal way and are quite helpful. My individual encounter with
them inspired me to give the OPTIMISTIC HACKER GAIUS firm a 5-star review. For consumer inquiries, their channels are:
WhatsApp at +44..7..7..3..5..2..8..0..4..7..3
email… optimistichackergaius @ seznam.cz
website; https://optimistichackergaius.com
HOW TO RECOVER MONEY LOST IN BITCOIN/USDT TRADING OR TO CRYPTO INVESTMENT !!
Hi all, friends and families. I am writing From Alberton Canada.
Last year I tried to invest in cryptocurrency trading in 2023, but lost a significant amount of money to scammers. I was cheated of my money, but thank God, I was referred to Hack Recovery Wizard they are among the best bitcoin recovery specialists on the planet. they helped me get every penny I lost to the scammers back to me with their forensic techniques. and I would like to take this opportunity to advise everyone to avoid making cryptocurrency investments online. If you have already lost money on forex, cryptocurrency or Ponzi schemes, please contact hackrecoverywizard@techie.com or WhatsApp: +1 (757) 237–1724 at once they can help you get back the crypto you lost to scammers.
BEST WISHES.
Alice
HOW TO RECOVER MONEY LOST IN BITCOIN/USDT TRADING OR TO CRYPTO INVESTMENT !!
Hi all, friends and families. I am writing From Alberton Canada.
Last year I tried to invest in cryptocurrency trading in 2023, but lost a significant amount of money to scammers. I was cheated of my money, but thank God, I was referred to Hack Recovery Wizard they are among the best bitcoin recovery specialists on the planet. they helped me get every penny I lost to the scammers back to me with their forensic techniques. and I would like to take this opportunity to advise everyone to avoid making cryptocurrency investments online. If you have already lost money on forex, cryptocurrency or Ponzi schemes, please contact hackrecoverywizard@techie.com or WhatsApp: +1 (757) 237–1724 at once they can help you get back the crypto you lost to scammers.
BEST WISHES.
Alice