I would like to introduce a new author today. 
You can view his introduceyourself post here. Living with blindness in a visual world
I would love to hear how it was to grow up in China in the eighties as he mentions at the end of this post, ... I grew up in the 80's in apartheid South Africa. What a wonderful platform to write about on topics like this!
Please support this new author should you enjoy his writing.
Embracing Our Vulnerabilities
The word vulnerability comes with many negative conatations in our western culture. But it is this exact topic that I want to explore with you. I want to share with you my journey in wrestling with vulnerability and what I've learnt along the way.
I grew up in a single parent family, where my parents divorced when I was still only four years old. And at the age of six, I was diagnosed with a severe genetic eye condition called Stargardt's Disease, which would lead to the gradual deterioration of my vision until most of my central vision would be gone. As a result, a year after this diagnosis, my mum brought me to Australia in search of better prospects, because she didn't see any hope for me as someone with a disability growing up in China.
Growing up as an only child, with my mum often working two or three jobs to support our family, I became familiar with being alone. When I experienced bullying and isolation at school, there was often no one around for me to share my pain with. I learnt at a very young age to suppress my emotions and to pretend that everything was OK. Over time, my heart was hardened and I became insensitive to my emotions. I remember when I was still in primary school, my grandma past away. Besides my parents, she was the person closest to me. Before her health had deteriorated, my grandma would wait for me at the train station everyday to walk with me back home after school. But the day she past away, I didn't shed one single tear. Not because I wasn't sad, but rather I was so use to suppressing my emotions that I didn't know how to respond to grief and sadness.
This wall I put up against the outside world hindered my relationships growing up. I had difficulty with developing deep and meaningful connections with people. My heart longed for acceptance and belonging. But in my heart of hearts I struggled to believe that people would love and accept me just the way I am. Every time I meet a new person, I’m conscious of whether they will notice my vision impairment, and if so, what will they think of me? And is there a woman out there who would love me just the way I am and be willing to spend the rest of her life with me?
This all changed when one day a friend shared with me this incredible truth that God loves me and accepts me just the way I am. When you experience God, everything changes. For the first time in my life, I felt alive. I could finally experience the full scope of human emotions once again. I learnt to embrace my imperfections and allow people into the most vulnerable parts of my life. Finally I was able to experience deeper and more authentic connections with those around me, the connections that I had been longing for all my life.
In her TED talk titled The Power of Vulnerability, researcher Brené Brown provides insights into the importance of being vulnerable, and why we need to embrace our imperfections.
Each one of us have our own flaws, imperfections and struggles that we wrestle with each day. We constantly face the voices around us and from within us questioning whether we are smart enough, beautiful enough, successful enough. Are we worthy of being loved? Our culture and media rewards people according to their strengths and achievements, and we are told that we need to have it together all the time. But it is only when we start embracing our imperfections and allow others to see who we truly are, that we are able to experience life in its fullest.
Thanks for entering into my journey of self discovery. For more about my life, I will be starting my autobiographic series soon. Part 1 will be posted within the next couple of days, detailing my childhood growing up in China in the early 1980s, and the emotional rollar coaster of a life changing diagnosis.
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Jimmy
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If you are looking to be featured as an author, please contact me via email - featureonsteemit@gmail.com