A Message

We must walk into the arena, whatever it may be – a new relationship, an important meeting, our creative process, or a difficult family conversation – with courage and the willingness to engage. Rather than sitting on the sidelines and hurling judgment and advice, we must dare to show up and let ourselves be seen. This is vulnerability. This is daring greatly.
— Brené Brown in Daring Greatly

I have a message today. A message from the universe. It’s not for you, it’s for me, but I’m sharing it with you too.

This morning I sat down and started reading Brené Brown’s new book, Daring Greatly. I’ve mentioned before, I have read and like her previous books, so I wanted to read this one right away. As I read the first couple of chapters, I found myself thinking, I really should watch that TED talk she mentions. I’ve heard about it but never seen it.

A little while later I stopped my morning reading and got on the computer to check my email. I open an email newsletter from a friend, and in it she is sharing Brené Brown’s TED talk. Whoa.

OK, universe. Message received. I stopped what I was doing and watched the talk, and I’m sharing it with you here today so you can watch it if you haven’t before. Or rewatch it if you have.

Her message is so important. It reminds us that to have connection and love, we have to believe we are worthy of connection and love. To truly connect or create, we have to make ourselves vulnerable. We have to put ourselves out there. We have to be willing to be ourselves and to live true to our hearts. We have to ignore the critics. We have to avoid being the critic, providing commentary from the sidelines.

I’m thinking on these messages today, since they were sent to me in such an obvious way. Do they connect with you too?

PS – I mentioned previously that Brené is doing a read along of her new book on her blog started next week. You can find out more here.

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