• September 15, 2021
• Laura Madden
• 0
• Uncategorized

To talk about our struggles is hard. No one wants to feel pain and no one wants to talk about their pain. But it is 2014 and we all have some sort of pain, whether physical, emotional, mental, financial, etc. For some of us, to admit this openly is unbearably vulnerable. That was me for a very long time.

Still, in many settings, it is taboo to share our struggles or ’to air your dirty laundry.’ Why? Because it is a way of putting yourself out there. And yes, it will call attention to you. And you bet your A** it is brave. And many people may be threatened by your courage.

Yet, many people suffering in silence still view this as a sign of weakness. Many of us are not comfortable with that. Being seen AND being vulnerable- double whammy! We think talking about our pain is like rehashing our pain until we actually do it. It is actually a way to release our pain, express ourselves and love ourselves more fully.

How does this relate to my work helping you with your personal image and visibility to help you grow your business? I am all about helping women like you get empowered to stand up for yourself and speak up for yourself. To use your voice and express yourself. When you express yourself, you are free.

If their is a wound or a pain in your life that you’re not facing head on- whether outwardly or within your own heart- it will eat away at you, create stress, waste priceless energy, drain your creativity, and hold you back from living out your dreams (you get what I mean right? That’s dying inside!).

I want to help you feel most confident and beautiful, so you can shamelessly share yourself with the world and connect deeply with your audience. Because sharing your struggles in a relatable way is part of being authentic with your audience. Authenticity cultivates confidence. The more authentic we are, the more confident we become because people respond to that. They see it. They feel it. It creates trust. Trust does many things- most importantly it empowers us and our audience.

It wasn’t until I started coaching that I realized, yes, I had plenty of struggles, and no, I was not honoring or accepting them. It wasn’t until I realized most people thought I was ‘perfect’ or that I had nothing to worry about, that I realized I wasn’t being completely authentic. I wasn’t sharing all of me- the good, the bad and the ugly. And there was plenty of ‘ugly’ hiding under the surface that not even I wanted to look at- so why the hell was I going to start sharing that s**t with anybody else. I wanted people to like me, right.

In my childhood years I faced the struggle of being overweight, and feeling like a complete outsider, which I would describe as an ugly time. In my adult years, ugliness struck again. This time in the form of infertility.

If you share this struggle with me, you may know exactly how this feels. For me, this felt like an incapability, a loss, a blow to my self-esteem, a violation of my womanhood, my femininity- my rights. It felt ugly.
By sharing, I have learned that this is NOT about me, and my inabilities. It is about opening up to my true self, and opening my heart to all the beauty that exists in my life to this day- unconditional self-love, self-acceptance and being at peace with what is meant to be and what is not.
Sharing your struggles brings people together because so many of us share the same painful stuff. It shows us that we are more alike than different. That is a beautiful thing! I started to understand what trust, connection, and vulnerability really felt like. Truthfully, there was plenty of fear around getting myself there, but ultimately it created a sense of personal power and that, too, is a beautiful thing.
I’d like to introduce you to my beautiful friend and colleague Tamar Henry, the Curveball coach. Tamar is an expert at coaching women on facing the curveballs, or challenges, and transitions in their life. (I bet you’re already thinking you want to find out more right!) Tamar is having a free call to support women who are dealing with fertility challenges and/or pregnancy loss.  She is trying to reach as many women in need of emotional and spiritual support around this issue as possible.  Please forward to friends and family or in your networks if you’d like to spread the word: http://curveballcoaching.com/fertility/

This is one of those subject matters that people kinda shy away from. Most people don’t talk about their fertility struggles until, like, maybe they’ve had a couple kids. It’s uncomfortable. It’s taboo. Why? Because not enough people are talking about it. Tamar is supporting women in hopes to normalize the conversation around this very common challenge, so we can openly talk about it without feeling so vulnerable and foreign.

Why am I telling you this? The more you can get comfortable being vulnerable, the more others will feel comfortable being vulnerable too. Just like when you shine, you empower others to shine too. Being vulnerable is a way to open up and connect with people on a very deep level- like for real.

I believe that connection brings healing. This has been my experience. What our world clearly needs right now is some healing. (I’m sure you can agree. If not though, call me because I want to know what planet you’re living on)

I hope you’ll join us and please share this email. Thank you!

Register for this Free call on 9/18/14 at 5 pm PST http://curveballcoaching.com/fertility/

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Laura Madden