Our Hard Stories Release Others from Shame
Vulnerably sharing our experiences helps us, as well
A while back I had a phone conversation with a good friend. He’s the kind of person who likes to go deep, quickly. If he asks how you are, he really wants to know, and nothing but the truth will do.
So we’re talking and sharing, and we transition to a fairly painful topic and I lead with “Ugh, it’s so hard to talk about this.” He pauses for a moment and says the words I won’t soon forget: “You know, it’s our hard and vulnerable stories which release others from shame. We shouldn’t take that lightly.”
It was like a light bulb went off, and it changed the way I viewed my own vulnerable stories ever since.
Make the Dark Small
Life is messy. Emotions are complicated. We all know this.
Yet, we so very often feel as though we’re alone in our mess. The things we are dealing with are unique, and our mistakes are so much worse than anyone else’s.
Quite simply, we feel shame.
People can tell you you’re being silly, that it’s really not that bad. But we all know how that goes: we can’t let it go. We just can’t forgive ourselves.
