“We can talk about courage and love and compassion until we sound like a greeting card store, but unless we’re willing to have an honest conversation about what gets in the way of putting these into practice in our daily lives, we will never change.”

~ Bréne Brown

This made me pause. There are so many of us who can be stuck in the place of wishing the words to transform our lives.  Yet, greeting card words are not enough.

It made me think about what gets in the way of living from a place of compassion, or as Bréne Brown puts it, living “wholeheartedly”.

And what keeps coming to mind again and again is that we can only be courageous and kind when we become aware of our inner world of thoughts, beliefs and feelings, and accept ourselves fully.

When we accept all aspects of ourselves without judgment, then we are able to let go of what other people think. This takes courage.

It takes an inner resilience to look at the parts of ourselves that are hidden or that we may not like.

We have to be brave to look at the stories we have created for ourselves and see them for just that – stories.

It takes courage to let go of what we have always counted on to reinforce who we want to be; to become vulnerable to the truth instead of covering it up or denying it; to show our authentic face to the world.

Bréne Brown gets to the heart of the matter beautifully: “Owning our story can be hard but not nearly as difficult as spending our lives running from it. Embracing our vulnerabilities is risky, but not nearly as dangerous as giving up on love and belonging and joy – the experiences that make us the most vulnerable. Only when we are brave enough to explore the darkness will we discover the infinite power of our light.”

~ Bréne  Brown

This is dedicated to all of you who have found the courage to be authentic, express your real self, and connect to your inner being. You rock!!