I’m just sitting here thinking I probably should write a blog post since it has been 3 weeks since my last post.  I have a few ideas but not sure they really all fit together to make anything that would seem coherent.  So, maybe I’ll just write snippets and random thoughts and see what you think of that approach.

• Studying Brene Brown’s Daring Greatly book in the Thursday morning book group at church.  We watch a video of Brene discussing her concepts and then have group discussion on the points.  Brene says we sacrifice relationships and opportunities and “turn our backs on our gifts” when we try to be perfect and “bulletproof” every time we walk into the “arena”.
  • Love Brene’s style both in her video presentation and her writing.  She is very down-to-earth and relatable.  Not afraid to use everyday, common language to describe things and make her point (e.g., something “pisses” her off; or, something is “crap”).
  • Daring and being vulnerable – the main topics of the book – are very hard concepts for me.  I know I have major issues with these ideas.  I’d rather keep my walls up and not let anyone see I don’t know what I am doing.
  • Vulnerability is feeling disconnected (e.g., no one else is this stupid; no one else would make this kind of mistake).  I like that definition.
  • Stress occurs when your values are being challenged.  Take time to identify your values and it may help you determine why you feel stressed.  Example:  being thorough in your work may be a value – not having enough time to be thorough on a project will cause you stress.
• Somewhere recently, and unfortunately, I can’t remember where, I read of a great approach to take when faced with a task or experience that seems insurmountable – instead of saying “I can’t” say, “How can I?”  Saying “I can’t” is disempowering.
• One of my friends from book group who always has great ideas on how to approach life (Jules, you know who you are!) recently said she goes about considering how to act in situations by asking herself “what is the loving thing to do”.  Great approach.
• We are all more resilient than we think we are, and adversity is a great opportunity for growth.  A good way to learn how capable we are is to find an activity that causes us to feel vulnerable and embrace it, see how it goes.  Scary, right?  One of my scary activities has been taking classes about writing at The Loft.  There I encounter persons who seem to be much better writers than I am; I can feel really inadequate.  But, I have gotten through the classes, learned a lot, and no one has called me stupid!
• I try to remember that no one can get at my safe place – my spirit/ my heart/my uniqueness – which was pure when I came out as a newborn baby, and remains pure today.  Obviously, I have messed up the rest of me in many ways since birth, but that original pureness is still deep inside and safe.  This helps me remember I can act courageously and confidently.

So, this is a mess of a post.  Let me know if any of these points resonates with you and perhaps I can delve deeper in a future post (no promises).  Feel free to leave your comments below.