In The Gifts of Imperfection, Brené Brown writes about living wholeheartedly, which it to say; living with purpose, love and worthiness.
"Wholehearted living is about engaging in our lives from a place of worthiness. It means cultivating the courage, compassion, and connection to wake up in the morning and think, no matter what gets done and how much if left undone, I am enough. It's going to bed at night thinking, Yes I am imperfect and vulnerable and sometimes afraid, but that doesn't change the truth that I am also brave and worthy of love and belonging."
That may sound simple to some; to live in the most authentic way possible, not fearing consequences from being vulnerable or flawed. But for many this is challenging.
Courage to be vulnerable is hard to muster when you have a voice inside your head telling you it isn't safe. Maybe you've had past experiences that conditioned you to not ask for help or admit you have an issue. Maybe you've been shut down when you asked for help before.
A lot of individuals and couples before coming into counseling have this thought:
I am strong enough to fix my problems on my own.
OR
We are strong enough to fix our own problems.
But what is strength? To be fair, strength encompasses a lot of areas but one thing is for sure- being strong doesn't mean you don't have problems. Strength doesn't equal not asking others for help. In my opinion, its quite the opposite. Instead, I look at people who ask for help some of the strongest around. It takes courage to admit you aren't okay and that you have areas to grow in.
The counseling process isn't always easy to begin and there's a ton of reasons why people put it off (money, time, fear, ego etc etc). But if in this life you aren't looking for the path of least resistance and instead hoping for a fulfilled one, counseling is one great way to begin the journey in becoming your authentic, wholehearted self.