Being vulnerable is your greatest protection

What do you see when you look in the face of someone who is totally willing to be vulnerable? You see love and happiness. The words you would use to describe this person are the same words that you would use to describe the experience of love.

When the experience of love is present, life works. You are happy, alive and free. You feel good about yourself and good about life. You radiate a very positive energy and great things happen around you. This is the essence of who you are.

When you allow yourself to be vulnerable, this experience of love comes forth. People feel empowered around you and great things happen. You also vaporize opposition and resistance.

Notice how you feel when you are with someone who has little or no walls of protection. You feel loved and empowered. Now notice how you feel when you are with someone whose walls are thick. You feel unloved and defensive. Which person would you rather be with? Whose well being are you more interested in?

We put up our walls of protection thinking that this will somehow protect us from getting hurt, but it doesn’t. In fact, it produces the opposite result. Instead of protecting us, our walls push love away and create resistance against us. Our greatest protection is love, not walls.

When you let your walls down, you create an environment of love where people feel safe and can be vulnerable around you. In relationships, when both of you have your walls down, you make a beautiful, heart to heart connection. When you keep your walls up, this connection is impossible.

Incidentally, being willing to be vulnerable doesn’t mean that you need to be a doormat or let the train roll over you. Willingness is a state of mind and is totally separate from your actions. In your actions, do whatever you need to do. Just do it with an open heart.

We put up our walls of protection to keep from getting hurt, but what side of the wall is the hurt on? It’s on the inside. Our walls of protection don’t keep the hurt out, they keep the hurt in.

Be willing to be hurt, again and again. Let the hurt come and let it go. As you become willing to be vulnerable, you create an environment of love. People feel safe around you and start expressing their love in return. So be willing to be vulnerable. Express your love and watch what happens.