SOLC 2015 Day 24: Let the walls come down

Vulnerability.  Losing the armor.  Allowing the messiness of life to be openly acknowledged.  Acceptance of imperfection.  These were the messages I read in Carry On, Warrior by Glennon Doyle Melton.

Melton is very open in her book about her checkered past and her current struggles to maintain a marriage and a home.  She does so with a sense of self-deprecating humor, through the power of knowing that every day, we get a chance to do better.  Every.  Single.  Day.  One day at a time, in AA speak.

Carry On, Warrior struck a nerve with me.  I was told by a peer as a young adult that I didn't "play the game" very well, wouldn't get far if I didn't learn to schmooze and network and hide my faults.  I've lived by my own lights and not paid much attention to getting ahead of anyone else.  

I am not perfect, my house is not perfect, my life is not perfect, and I am perfectly happy to talk about any of those things.  I have come too far and lived long enough to own the experience I've had to inform my thoughts and actions.  I will speak my mind and bare my imperfections, because who does it serve to act like life isn't messy?  Who needs the stress of holding up a facade every day?  Life is stressful enough!

Life is also full of glorious, blessed moments.  And I'm just as willing to share those.  The fact that I like to focus on the good stuff does not make me a Pollyanna with rose-colored glasses.  I acknowledge the bad in the world; I just choose to send my energy to what's going right.  Simple behavior management--that to which we pay more attention, increases. 

This is my third SOLC, and the first time I've gotten so personal with my posts.  I've noticed that the more raw the story, the more it seems to resonate with my readers.  It is in the vulnerability that we find connection.