Living courageously

I have just read the most brilliantly insightful book right now. Actually, the truth is I am reading and re-reading it, underlining in it, taking notes from it, quoting chunks of it to friends and recommending it to everyone I meet. The book in question is called, "Daring Greatly," by Dr Brene Brown. The sub title  "How the Courage to be Vulnerable Transforms the way we Live, Love, Parent and Lead," and, in my opinion, is the second most transformative book I have ever read (the first being the Holy Scriptures, commonly known to us as the Bible).

Dr Brown is, in her words, a shame and vulnerability researcher. Her work, which is the result of wading through over 100s of pages of data over the course of several years, discusses why we human beings struggle with being vulnerable and letting ourselves be seen, really seen. A summary of the book might be as simple as this: realizing that no matter who we are, where we have come from, whoever our parents are (or are not), we ALL struggle and wrestle with the question, "Am I enough?" Dr Brown's conclusion is that people who believe in the depth of their souls that they are "enough" are the ones who live wholeheartedly. They live believing that they are worthy of love and belonging. She adds, all of us, every human being, will experience shame and the ones who truly believe in their worthiness, their "enoughness," the ones she calls, "wholehearted,' are those who have learned shame resilience. They are not shame resistant, they are shame resilient. They have learned that healthy connections with other human beings involve putting themselves "out there" and sometimes that requires unlimited amounts of courage and developed strategies

I believe this book is essential reading for pastors, teachers, leaders, CEO's, managers, artists, collaborators... in fact, everyone who has any accountability for people (including themselves). It ought to be compulsory reading, especially pastors, for whom I have a particular interest. It's brilliant.

In her introduction, Dr Brown says this:

"The Wholehearted identify vulnerably as the catalyst for courage, compassion and connection  In fact, the willingness to be vulnerable emerged as the single clearest value shared by all of the women and men whom I would describe as Wholehearted. They attribute everything...to their ability to be vulnerable."

It is brilliant. Straightforward, simple and clear. While I was reading and underlining so many words and sentences, I couldn't help but think that we already have a model who has already lived a wholehearted life as described by Dr Brown. 

More to follow on this Wholehearted life...