Strength in Weakness

I wrote a blog a little while ago called, Your Greatest Strength is Your Greatest Weakness.  This post is kinda the opposite.

You know that feeling you get before you go out to a party full of strangers?  It's a little dread, and a little intimidation.  Feels like everyone else is perfect, and you feel like you're faking it?  Your fancy shirt has baby puke on the shoulder, and you just feel like an impostor.

The reason we feel that way is because we're all jerks.

We all hide our weaknesses and failures.  I hide mine because everyone in a group of strangers looks so... TOGETHER.  But they're doing the same thing.

And that's crap.  Here's why:

Your greatest struggles, your toughest weaknesses, are what makes you so important to these people.  See, we are all humans trying to fumble our way through life too.  Some of us are struggling with the same thing you are.  And we NEED to feel normal, like we aren't the only one in the universe dealing with this.  And some have just started their struggle.  And you know every square inch of the battleground.  And they could sure use your experience.  You could save someone a lot of the same heartache you've gone through. 

Whatever you've been through, whether it was a health issue, a professional decision causing you stress, or a relational hardship, imagine if you'd had that person, who was vulnerable enough to be open about their struggles, who could've been a lighthouse to you while you were in the thick of things.  Imagine if we could all swallow our pride and offer that service to each other.

Cause here's the thing: any struggle you are living through feels like weakness, but it turns into strength as it fades into the past.  You don't need to be finished with them - unfortunately that's not really how life works most of the time.  But if you can live through those struggles with a soft heart and a learner's mind, those struggles become your history, your experience.  Those struggles become your wisdom.  They testify to your strength and resilience.

So, how about we all forego the whole 'got it together' thing, and just be honest about the stuff we struggle with?  Honestly, it's probably some of the best real estate we have in our minds, if we're willing to share it.