Bravery, Courage & Vulnerability

A friend of mine recently shared Brené Brown's TEDx talk on shame, vulnerability and the key to wholehearted living. After watching both TED talks, I hopped right on to Amazon and bought her book Daring Greatly. I've been told I started out of order... so I plan to purchase her earlier books. But let me just tell you...Worth. Every. Penny. Before you go any further, see for yourself and watch this video:

I'll go ahead and save you a Google search and give you the link to buy the book, too.  Click here.  (This isn't even an affiliate link, I get no financial benefit from sharing this)

Brené Brown points out that our fatal flaw is associating vulnerability with weakness. But she then explains that vulnerability isn't weakness at all. It takes great strength and courage to be vulnerable. Let's take the image of boxers going into a boxing ring. Once they enter the ring, they are exposed and vulnerable to getting hit. Heck, they are guaranteed to get hit.  A part of vulnerability is being aware of your weakness and being courageous in spite of the fear of getting hit. Boxers know where their weakness is - that's why you see them hold their gloves up and guard their head and face. I am sure many of you haven't thought "man, that guy (or gal) sure is vulnerable by going into the boxing ring". Most of us think about their strength and are impressed with their ability to take a hit. 

I think estate planning is similar. It takes courage to face your fears. These conversations make us feel vulnerable because we are coming to face our own mortality. We acknowledge we are not invincible. Having a will, or a power of attorney, is like keeping your gloves up and blocking your face. It's taking care of the most important things, your husband, your wife, your kids, your parents, your family. We cannot step in to the boxing ring without getting hit [and spoiler alert: if you're living life--- you are already in the boxing ring]. So put your gloves up. Block your face, and guard your weaknesses.