picture in my mind

I'm quite sure I posted about this lady Brene Brown before,

whose talk on vulnerability years ago now,

remains one of the best TED talks anyone should watch.

But I only got her book Rising Strong recently, and delved deeper into her themes of vulnerability and courage and shame and fear. And man, is she right about how unsettling and agitating this is. She says in her talk about how this research led to her own breakdown, and I can really see why now. Understanding this subject matter deeply makes you question the way you live your entire life, and makes you reflect how badly it is that you've been doing things, and how you really need to change.

It's upsetting me. Because it's telling me to do things I don't want to do. Because she's right, it's uncomfortable, it's scary, and it will hurt -- but that's courage, right. God, I'm almost wishing I can walk away from this and pretend not to care.

One of the things I commonly pray for is courage, always feeling how much l lack it. And right now, I'm almost wishing I didn't ask God to make me brave. Because I don't think I can be brave. It's taking too much of my energy reserves to do this; I'm just too exhausted. I've been feeling so tired; wouldn't it be better and easier to just not care.

😔

Despite what I just said, dear God, help me be brave.
And maybe I'll have more energy to work at this on another day.

The Rising Strong Process 

The goal of this process is to rise from our falls, overcome our mistakes, and face hurt in a way that brings wisdom and wholeheartedness. 

The Reckoning 

Men and women who rise strong are willing and able to reckon with their emotions. First, they recognize that they're feeling something -- a button has been pushed, they're hooked, something is triggered, their emotions are off-kilter. Second, they get curious about what's happening and how what they're feeling is connected to their thoughts and behaviours. Engaging in this process is how we walk into our story. 

The Rumble

Men and women who rise strong are willing and able to rumble with their stories. By rumble, I mean they get honest about the stories they've made up about their struggles and they are willing to revisit, challenge, and reality-check these narratives as they dig into topics such as boundaries, shame, blame, resentment, heartbreak, generosity, and forgiveness. 

Rumbling with these topics and moving from our first responses to a deeper understanding of our thoughts, feelings, and behaviours gives birth to key learnings about who we are and how we engage with others. The rumble is where wholeheartedness is cultivated and change begins. 

The Revolution 

Unlike evolutionary change, which is incremental, revolutionary change fundamentally transforms our thoughts and beliefs. Rumbling with our story and owning our truth in order to write a new, more courageous ending transforms who we are and how we engage with the world. Men and women who rise strong integrate the key learnings that emerge from the rising strong process into how they live, love, lead, parent, and participate as citizens. This has tremendous ramifications not only for their own lives, but also for their families, organizations, and communities.

-- Rising Strong, Brene Brown

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It all seems connected: the story of Bangtan rising strong, for one;
I bet you this is one of the major reasons they appeal so much to everyone.
Thank you, dear boys, for being such an inspiration to everyone.

People glorify the ending of a story when it's all great and good; 

but when you're in the middle of your story, 

not at all certain you're in a story worth telling at all, 

it's dark, and painful, and bleak. 

No one seems to care about that bit;

worse, some people will throw you off-track,

and that's where a lot of us falter.

That's where inspiring stories like BTS are such a source of strength, comfort, and hope.
And they sing about it too!