You possess weaknesses. All different flavors, too. They show up whenever they like. Sometimes you can scurry ’em around the side of the house and into the shed until company leaves. Sometimes they walk right in without knocking. Don’t they like to mingle, too? They shake everyone’s hand with that clammy palm and lukewarm smile. Hopefully they’re alone this time. (Remember when they chartered that old school bus with the flowers painted on the side? Weakness in numbers is not as warmly welcomed…)
Once weakness shows up, you have a choice.
You can pretend like it’s not there.
You can handle it yourself. (Similar to pretending.)
You can ask for help.
Most of us prefer to handle it ourselves. Like that nail that keeps snagging your sock in the den. You keep whacking it back down into the flooring. It pops up again eventually. So you whack it back down. So it pops back up. So you…
This is acknowledging the nail but not accepting its inherent nature. This sock-thirsty nail isn’t going to stay put. Not the way you’re addressing it. If it was, it would have heeded the hammer’s head the first time. This nail isn’t like the other nails. Whacking harder won’t make a difference. You need a different approach.
Weakness without acceptance truly is weakness. We can acknowledge where we lack. But it’s not the same thing as owning it. This is acceptance. Not just recognizing it in the mirror. Holding it close. Inspecting it. Embracing it. Then letting it go to be whatever it might be now that you have pardoned yourself.
Yes, pardoned.
Don’t we respond to weakness as if it makes us wrong? Like we’re somehow less of who we believed we were before we realized we’re still a little less perfect than even this.
Some weakness can be routed out with an evil eye and the threat of pursuit on foot.
But most is resistant. It knows your genetic code. It’s craftier than you are. It works in the shadows and only comes out in the light to shine. Except it absorbs all light, leaving a black hole in your person too dense to mend on your own.
You and I know weakness can be overcome. I suggest being critical of your methods. Don’t fall prey to the myth that your weaknesses will respond best to your treatments. Sometimes the right course is a little fresh air and change of scenery. More specifically, a new perspective. Often that comes from someone else. It may even resemble inspiration.
Weakness can become a strength when you stop pretending it isn’t weakness.
Especially when you allow room for someone else to be strong on your behalf.
