Nancy Kuhuski

I watched it happen right in front of me. “Thank you for sharing your story. It really has helped me to not relapse”. A young woman, struggling with an eating disorder, was thanking a woman a little further down the path for sharing her story. Not just the happy parts, but the real, vulnerable, embarrassing, I don’t have it all together parts too. Our stories are important!

I really believe everyone has a story to tell. I would even go as far as to say, everyone has a story they need to tell! Over and over and over, I hear, see and experience the power that transpires in those moments of vulnerability when we get real and allow ourselves to be seen – flaws and all.

I know, I know – it’s frightening to even think about! We work so hard to manage how other’s see us. What our life is like, how we parent, how our relationships are doing, our successes as we climb the career ladder, taking a bunch of selfies just to get that one pic that captures our best, right? Our choices of what we post, or don’t post on social media is fascinating to me.

Now, I’ve been just as guilty of all this as the next person! I’m positive I care far more than I should about how other’s view me, although the past several years I’ve been waking up to how damaging this is to my life. I’ve shared before of coming to a crossroads where I had to make a distinctive choice. I chose to pursue living wholehearted. I had just lost 130 pounds and realized I had allowed myself to miss out on far too much life, for far too long. That was no longer acceptable, and I was no longer willing to live a life of settling.

Choosing to live wholehearted requires vulnerability, authenticity, and a whole lot of grace, but it brings great joy, freedom, and deep purpose. Living wholehearted is risky though. I risk being rejected, which is probably one of my biggest fears, being judged, disqualified, or deemed “not worthy”, to name a few.

Brene Brown sums this up well, “Owning our story can be hard, but not nearly as difficult as spending our lives running from it. Embracing our vulnerabilities is risky but not nearly as dangerous as giving up on love and belonging and joy – the experiences that make us the most vulnerable”.

While not everyone has earned the right to hear your story, when you encounter the opportunity and are prompted, It’s so very worth it. The beautiful thing that happens when we get vulnerable and share our story is, you hear other people start to whisper – me too… and if there is hope for her, maybe there is hope for me too… Don’t be ashamed of your story. Your story contains the hope our world is desperate to hear.

Who needs to hear your story?