One of my all-time favorite lines from a song actually came from a Bubba Sparxxx song (Deliverance) –

Solid on the surface as I crumble within, but legends are made out of vulnerable men.

It may be one line, but it is super deep (Mariana Trench status yo!) and it totally struck a chord with me. At a young age, we are taught to believe that being vulnerable is a weakness and that we have to be strong at all time (especially if you’re a dude). We go around thinking that we have to hide our emotions and not let people know how we are feeling at any given moment. The older you get the more you realize thinking that way is more damaging than anything. You become this impenetrable wall and you try to keep this façade up that you are ok when you are really not. But what happens is that it eventually eats away at you internally. And like most things that you try to hide or keep inside of you, they will come out in other ways. Everyone has their breaking points since we are all human.

Here is the crazy thing, not everyone is Superman (and even he had a weakness), and you shouldn’t go around thinking that you have to check your emotions every time you start feel something that isn’t positive. We learn to dismiss them or try to escape them, but the only way you can deal with those types of emotions is to face them head on. Vulnerability is seen in a negative light, but you can change your perspective by simply acknowledging that you are just being honest with yourself and that sometimes means admitting that you are not the best person out there or that you failed at something. But like all things in life, those moments are temporary (this too shall pass, right?).

It’s ok to ask for help sometimes and I try to work on this every day. I’m the typical stubborn dude you hear so much about. I will go around in circles at the supermarket looking for something for 20 minutes since I don’t want to get over myself and ask a clerk for assistance. They work there every day, they know where everything is at! It’s a bit of an extreme and somewhat petty example, but there have been so many times where I didn’t find what I was looking for because I refused to ask for help. It’s simple yet complicated at the same time. This also goes for the people around you. It’s ok to admit to them that you are struggling with something or just need a friend to let you vent. It’s always nice to get a fresh perspective.

This doesn’t mean that you should go around thinking that everyone else is going to fix your problems (there goes that wretched accountability nonsense!), but there will be times where someone can provide you with an easy solution to issue you were overthinking. So, don’t be afraid to be vulnerable every now and then. The people in your life who truly have your back will appreciate it greatly and won’t hold it against you. Help them help you (I flipped that Jerry McGuire line, yo!). Anyhow, I believe this is the end of my rant for now. Stay tuned for the next one. As always, thanks for reading and don’t forget to be awesome!