h2>Dating : Is New Love Worth the Risk?
“Vulnerability is our most accurate measure of courage.”
– Brené Brown
A day in the life when you know new love is one of my favorite things ever. It’s all about intimacy and connecting with your mate in body, spirit and soul — And it’s learning to be in your lover’s energy and heart-space. Moreover, the sweet truth is that embarking on a new relationship means discovery in the form of fresh ventures and exciting new beginnings. You and your significant other will have so much to learn about each other. Which inevitably requires a certain amount of vulnerability.
It’s easy to open up about the fun, lighthearted stuff — like your go-to guilty pleasure comfort-food or your most embarrassing childhood memory. But when it comes to the big, scary, emotional stuff, being open and honest isn’t always so simple. It can be difficult to let your guard down enough to invite all that new love brings, even when you trust your lover.
There’s no way around it — New love means risking your heart.
“A new relationship is uncharted territory, and most of us have natural fears of the unknown. Letting ourselves fall in love means taking a real risk. We are placing a great amount of trust in another person, allowing them to affect us, which makes us feel exposed and vulnerable.”
Hmm…
Granted, it’s not always an easy place to be, particularly if you’ve been hurt before or have difficulties sitting with and expressing deep feelings.
But our hearts and feelings are what makes us human. We didn’t come here not to experience great love. Quite the opposite, really.
With that in mind, I think that when you meet someone who gets under your skin to elicit your feelings and affect you like no other, it’s worth sitting up and paying attention. He or she definitely didn’t show up in your life by accident.
Having said that, allowing someone to affect you and opening up to them doesn’t have to mean spilling your guts all at once or relinquishing your personal power. In fact, creating an intimate bond with the right person should take time — you’re learning to love again.
Each new experience of love will be stronger than the one before. Trust me.
“Soul connections are not often found and are worth every bit of fight left in you to keep.”
― Shannon Alder
But learning to love again and being open to experience deep connection is going to make you feel vulnerable at times; that’s where your masterpiece comes in — your very human heart. It’s scary, but without investing your authentic self, the real fact is that you will actually deny the relationship its full potential — real connection and great love requires all of your heart. Not half.
To be sure, love and connection is not unlike other things in life.
We all know that creating anything worthwhile originates from deep desire and then manifests through perseverance and a strong commitment to see it through.
Agreed?
Besides, life is half-lived without reaching for deeper meaning through love and taking a chance on someone special. Someone who feels so right that nothing can shake them from your heart and soul.
Honestly, whether their purpose is to bestow beautiful blessings your way or to teach you something important, the significant loves will always show up in your life for a specific reason.
Always.
Sometimes, the fear of becoming vulnerable can be so crippling for some that instead of taking a leap of faith towards a gift life has presented them, they will choose to flee from love — deliberately sabotaging a special connection.
I know what it feels like to be on the receiving end of a love-runner. It’s like what John Mayer said when he crooned about Heartbreak Warfare. Only ten-million times worse because my heart is not a song lyric.
Not even close.
But my heart is, like yours, an imperfect masterpiece.
And vulnerability is the artwork through which deep love flourishes enough to change your life. Being vulnerable with someone means we have to be seen — really seen. It also means we have to be willing to be courageous in trust, communication and love.
It means finding yourself through the sacred channels leading to and from your heart-space.
I love how Brené Brown sees connection when she says:
“Getting vulnerable is about being willing to let go of who you think you are in order to become who you really are for connection.”
Some people show up to help us find our wings. They are usually the ones who make you feel the most vulnerable.
Here’s what vulnerability looks like in new love:
It is the willingness to express the true purpose of love and then live in the peaceful energy accompanying pure acceptance — for yourself and your lover.
It’s sharing your story; who you really are and what makes you tic. And it’s being your true self, fusing with soul-energy and bringing that divine essence to the love connection.
It’s being intentional about practicing forgiveness, inner-healing and gratitude.
Try not to cringe, but reaching deep and connecting even deeper really is how we strengthen the qualities that foster personal growth and transformation — it’s how we then evolve into better humans.
Vulnerability is fundamental to living a more fulfilling and richer life.
And that’s why it makes your heart a masterpiece.
It is entirely possible to come to the end of your life and wonder how you could have lived so moderately. It is just as possible to call on your inner-rebellion and live a life that matters — from the heart, and in ways that echo the very song of your soul.
To live from the heart is to let your soul lead you.
Bringing vulnerability to new love is connecting with the spirit and soul of the earth and heavens. It enables genuine experiences, authentic interactions and fulfilling relationships.
And it lays down the groundwork for a solid, authentic union with love.
Soulful living begins with the knowledge that you stand perfect in all your flaws while allowing and accepting others to be imperfect in theirs.
It’s about being conscious of who you are, living from the inside out to achieve deep happiness and feeling passionate about your life and those who touch it in a meaningful way.
It’s reaching the understanding that living a life of value has very little to do with productivity and getting things done. Yes, it is risky to care — to put ourselves “out there” — but nothing withers the soul like indifference or negligence.
Vulnerability and new love is soul growth.
I love you. Thank You. I’m Sorry. Forgive me.
In the end, that is all that is really left to say when speaking from the heart.
The thing that you’ve got to remember is that to be alive is to be exposed and new love will always exploit your deepest self and stoke your most precious feelings when you give yourself in full.
So, is new love worth the risk of giving your heart to vulnerability?
Hell, yeah. Every time.
