A friend recently shared this quote from a book and there is no way that I could come close to doing it justice without just posting it. It is a bit long but worth every minute you will spend reading it.
"Our weaknesses and fears, much more than our achievements and successes, drive us inward and put us in touch with what is deepest, softest and most worthwhile within the heart. In that part of the heart we discover who we really are and there we understand that we are not what we achieve, but what is given to us.
Outside that, when we posture strength and lie and pretend, we learn falsely that life is not a gift to be shared, but a possession to be defended. The road to love and intimacy lies in a compassion born out of the perception of shared struggle and shared fear. When we genuinely see another's wound and struggle, then that other enters a deeper, more real, part of us.
But it is precisely here that the problem lies. More than anything else, we struggle not to reveal our pain and fears to others, for we have been falsely taught that community and love are grounded upon something else, namely upon impressing each other. Perhaps the greatest obstacle to intimacy and community is that propensity to believe that others will love us only when we are impressive or strong.
Because of this, we go through life trying to impress others into liking us. Rather than sharing ourselves as we really are--vulnerable, tender, struggling, full of fear--we try to be so sensational that there can be no possible reason not to love us.
For the complete article, click here.
Comments