Courtesy of Henrik Edberg, The Positivity Blog Thoughts of Brené Brown
“Just because someone isn’t willing or able to love us, it doesn’t mean that we are unlovable.”
“You are imperfect, you are wired for struggle, but you are worthy of love and belonging.”
“Understanding the difference between healthy striving and perfectionism is critical to laying down the shield and picking up your life. Research shows that perfectionism hampers success. In fact, it’s often the path to depression, anxiety, addiction, and life paralysis.”
“Healthy striving is self-focused: “How can I improve?” Perfectionism is other-focused: “What will they think?”
“We cannot selectively numb emotions, when we numb the painful emotions, we also numb the positive emotions.”
“Stop walking through the world looking for confirmation that you don’t belong. You will always find it because you’ve made that your mission. Stop scouring people’s faces for evidence that you’re not enough. You will always find it because you’ve made that your goal. True belonging and self-worth are not goods; we don’t negotiate their value with the world. The truth about who we are lives in our hearts. Our call to courage is to protect our wild heart against constant evaluation, especially our own. No one belongs here more than you.”
“What separates privilege from entitlement is gratitude.”
“Authenticity is a collection of choices that we have to make every day.”
“Want to be happy? Stop trying to be perfect.”
“The real questions for parents should be: “Are you engaged? Are you paying attention?” If so, plan to make lots of mistakes and bad decisions. Imperfect parenting moments turn into gifts as our children watch us try to figure out what went wrong and how we can do better next time. The mandate is not to be perfect and raise happy children. Perfection doesn’t exist, and I’ve found what makes children happy doesn’t always prepare them to be courageous, engaged adults.”
“Nostalgia is also a dangerous form of comparison. Think about how often we compare our lives to a memory that nostalgia has so completely edited that it never really existed.”
“Compassionate people ask for what they need. They say no when they need to, and when they say yes, they mean it. They’re compassionate because their boundaries keep them out of resentment.”
“Vulnerability is not winning or losing; it’s having the courage to show up and be seen when we have no control over the outcome.”
“Somehow we’ve come to equate success with not needing anyone. Many of us are willing to extend a helping hand, but we’re very reluctant to reach out for help when we need it ourselves. It’s as if we’ve divided the world into “those who offer help” and “those who need help.” The truth is that we are both.”
“Staying vulnerable is a risk we have to take if we want to experience connection.”
“Shame corrodes the very part of us that believes we are capable of change.”
“I believe that what we regret most are our failures of courage, whether it’s the courage to be kinder, to show up, to say how we feel, to set boundaries, to be good to ourselves. For that reason, regret can be the birthplace of empathy.”
“Vulnerability sounds like truth and feels like courage. Truth and courage aren’t always comfortable, but they’re never weakness.”
