Share your stories

“Why do we fall, Bruce? So we can learn to pick ourselves up”

Perhaps the most powerful single line in the Batman trilogy.

In falling though, let us also share our stories of falling, not only our stories of success.

We all face challenges in our lives and our work and, I have found, sharing those stories of the tough times with others gives others permission to share their own stories of their own challenges.

So many benefits from this, from deepening trust and relationships to sharing learnings, to feeling mutual support, to giving permission to fail, to struggle to not always be thriving and successful.

I’ve had recent experience of challenge and shared with people in my life, finding that many of them, too, have had a similar challenge and then told me about it for the first time when I shared mine.

None of us is “bulletproof”, none of us leads a “shiny” life where everything is always positive (no matter what so many post on social media).

As I wrote some years ago: We are the sum total of our experiences, so (as I noted in another post) every challenge is an opportunity.

One level of opportunity is for us as individuals, to see the opportunity for choice in every tough moment. Another level, however, is to create possibilities for others in sharing our stories with them, not least so they feel a kindred understanding with you and that they are not alone, that even someone like you has had a similar struggle.

Share your stories.