Get back up. Begin again. – Brené Brown

“To get back up from a fall, to get back up from a setback, to get back up from what we’re in right now, you have to acknowledge that you’re down, that you’ve fallen, made a mistake. You have to be brave enough to acknowledge that you’re hurting, that you’re sad, disappointed, grieving, feeling shame, whatever feeling you’re in, you have to own it. We cannot begin again when we’re dragging unspoken and unexplored emotions behind us. We have to be brave and curious and to dig into the feelings of a fall.”
– Brené Brown, 2020 Graduation Speech, University of Texas at Houston
Thank you for this. Brenee Brown is a wonderful resource. She has been researching Shame and Vulnerability for a very long time. Shame can be a real barrier to getting help, I think, and Brenee has a lot of great talks on YouTube. Good stuff.
Unfortunately, there’s no expiration date on my susceptibility to experience setbacks but there’s also no expiration date on my ability to recover from them.
Admitting you have fallen is easy. It’s getting back up that’s hard and sucks.
It’s like we have to live our feelings or actually feel them for the first time. There’s no escaping now anymore.
Indeed. What I’ve found after all this time is that being able to sit with unpleasant feelings is key to my recovery. My attempts to avoid feeling pain merely created more pain. It is liberating to know that I can deal with whatever comes up….as long as I am sober. It gets easier. Best wishes, Jody.