Vulnerability; Is It Worth It?

In the computer world vulnerability is a weakness to your system.  It is a point of entry for someone or something to attack.  In the emotional sense, vulnerability has a tremendous sense of risk and hurt as well.  So is it worth it?  I have met a number of people who would say, “absolutely not! I tried that once and it destroyed my family and I found myself unemployed.”

My experience is that vulnerability is worth it (most of the time).  To me, vulnerability is enlarging my capacity to connect with others.  It’s about being transparent with my thoughts and feelings.  Admittedly, that’s not easy for a lot of individuals for a number of reasons.  It doesn’t come natural to most people.  If you happen to come across someone that is excessive in vulnerability red flags immediately go up!  And should.

You might say I am a selective vulnerable person.  I know that if my relationships are going to be deepened it requires vulnerability. It requires in a real sense to show the weakness to my system.  My family knows those things – I have a few close friends that know enough things about me that they could easily attack me, spread juicy gossip or call me a ‘big baby’.  It’s strange however; those are the people that I feel safest around.

Is it worth it?  Yes; most of the time.  Vulnerability opens the risk of being hurt but the opposite is to have a firewall so high that nothing can penetrate it.  I’m not talking about a virus, I’m talking about people.  My life is rich because I risked vulnerability.

Do you think it’s worth it?