Do you ever feel more vulnerable than you do strong?
Lots of women struggle with imposter syndrome— that feeling of vulnerability you get when you are certain the world will discover you're not as strong as you pretend to be. It's truly a heartbreaking feeling and yet, as contradictory as it seems, vulnerability is what makes a person stronger.
We are taught to put on a game face, fill up your giant coffee mug, and head out to battle the world and hide our fears. When we do this, we miss out on realizing that our strengths come from the lessons fear teaches us about strength and overcoming fear of vulnerability.
You may not believe, you are an inspiration to others when you show your weaker side.
When you hide your weaknesses, no one would ever know that you waged a bitter war against your feelings or that you're scared feeling like today might be the day when you just can't go on.
Or that sometimes when you're home, you're thankful to have survived another inner battle and more than anything, you need a good long cry on the shoulder of someone you know trust.
And as cliche as it may sound, those moments of vulnerability are what make you remarkably resilient and strong.
Vulnerability is the foundation of self-confidence because once you own your fears and embrace them, you are grounded in the strength of truth. You gain the knowledge that no matter what life throws your way, you can and will handle it.
It's what allows you to always, somehow and in some way, find your deepest core strengths at the very moment when the going gets so hard you feel certain you have nothing in your left. As much as feeling weak seems to play against being strong, there's a growth process that goes on each time you let yourself do just that.
What you tell your mind can either increase those feelings of vulnerability or be words that encourage you to feel stronger.
Each of your experiences can show you that other paths can and do exist, so why not take the stronger one and let your vulnerability shine through? To help you keep this in mind, we've gathered 25 of the most powerful quotes that prove vulnerability only makes you stronger.
Vulnerability is beautiful.
"What makes you vulnerable makes you beautiful." — Brene Brown
Weak is not the opposite of strong.
“To share your weakness is to make yourself vulnerable; to make yourself vulnerable is to show your strength.” — Crissi Jami
To be strong, you must know that you could break.
“The strongest love is the love that can demonstrate its fragility.” — Paulo Coelho
Wounds need air to be healed.
“What happens when people open their hearts? They get better.” ― Haruki Murakami, Norwegian Wood
Power does not come from the need for it.
“We are at our most powerful the moment we no longer need to be powerful.” ― Eric Michael Leventhal
Without flexibility, we break.
“You can change the world again, instead of protecting yourself from it.” ― Julien Smith, The Flinch
Your scars tell your story.
"Maybe life isn’t about avoiding the bruises. Maybe it’s about collecting the scars to prove we showed up for it." — Unknown
You simply cannot love without being vulnerable.
"To love is to be vulnerable." — C.S. Lewis
Opening up to another is how you let them in.
"Being vulnerable is the only way to allow your heart to feel true pleasure." — Bob Marley
Your vulnerable spots are what make you special.
"I want the part of you that you refuse to give." — Unknown
If you won't look at your fears, how can you ever be brave?
"Vulnerability is scary but pure. In it you can find bravery." — Raquel Franco
You must look down in order to jump up.
"I found that the more truthful and vulnerable I was, the more empowering it was for me." — Alanis Morissette
The more your heart breaks, the more of it you have to give.
"Let your heart crumble into an infinite amount of tiny, precious seeds. Then plant love everywhere you go." — Anita Krizzan
What makes you different holds you up.
"Your weirdness will make you stronger." — Andrea Balt
You get what you give.
"Open your hands if you want to be held." — Rumi
No one can respect what you will not let them see.
"Where you ache to be recognized, allow yourself to be seen." — Toko-pa Turner
And that's what makes love so exquisite.
"We are never so vulnerable as when we love." — Sigmund Freud
If you never try, you will never be.
"There is no intensity of love or feeling that does not involve the risk of crippling hurt. It is a duty to take this risk, to love and feel without defense or reserve." — William S. Burroughs
"In spite of everything I shall rise again: I will take up my pencil, which I have forsaken in my great discouragement, and I will go on with my drawing." — Vincent Van Gogh
The more you risk, the more you stand to gain.
"Maybe it won’t work out. But maybe seeing if it does will be the best adventure ever." — Unknown
Your vulnerability makes you endlessly fascinating.
"The best people possess a feeling for beauty, the courage to take risks, the discipline to tell the truth, the capacity for sacrifice. Ironically, their virtues make them vulnerable; they are often wounded, sometimes destroyed." — Ernest Hemingway
The only way to mend a broken heart is to love again.
"Continue to share your heart with people even if it's been broken." — Amy Poehler
Showing your weaknesses allows others to feel purpose.
"She was vulnerable when it came to him. He had crashed through her universe kissing her soul." — N.R. Hart
Starting over is never easy, but it is all you can do.
"A woman who opens her heart to love you when it’s already broken is braver than any person you’ll meet." — Steven Benson
The wise understand the important of being weak at times.
"The older I become the more I dream of a world where I don’t need so much armor."— J.M. Storm