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Vulnerability is the Height of Strength
There is no display of strength comparable to the lowering of all guards.
Each of us has been attacked so many times, in all the sundry forms that an attack can come, whether physical or emotional, that we have become like warriors, constantly vigilant for any intruder who would seek to harm us. There is a certain bravery in the willingness to meet a challenge. It certainly takes great self-possession to stand steadfast in the face of life’s threats, but there is an act of bravery that is unparalleled: to be vulnerable.
To overcome our fear and repel our antagonists, neutralizing the menaces they aim at us, is no small feat. Yet, how powerful, how unequivocal a sign of invincibility, it is to choose to raise no defense at all. There is in this the ultimate self-possession, which says I cannot be compelled in the slightest, not even to defend myself. It says that, whatever attacks may be launched against me, I will respond with complete indifference, as though they were in league with the gentlest breeze.
And by no means does this dauntlessness find its expression in physical courage alone. It is awe-inspiring to see a soul so brave as to bare their naked mind, to knock down all ramparts and do away with all bulwarks, and to simply let one’s emotional realities and beliefs be…
