Embrace your brokenness.

Broken. You hear the word and you automatically want to walk away from it. You don’t want to have any kind of association with anything broken because being broken is something “bad” right? Many people seem to think so. Society seems to shun things that are broken. Oh if it’s broken, just move on to something else or give up on it. It’s not good anymore. And what if it’s a person who’s broken? We stay away from them. We don’t want to deal with anything that’s broken. And what if it’s us that’s broken? That’s when we really freak out. Because we start to associate brokenness with unworthiness and we begin to love ourselves less when we feel broken.

But why does broken always have to be a bad thing? Have you ever noticed that it is only when we are broken or going through difficult times that “break” us that true strength reveals itself? You never hear stories about people conquering great challenges and things were easy for them or that their lives were a breeze. Instead, you hear stories about people who go through difficult seasons in their life and they overcome them by pushing through the storm and moving through their brokenness into something beautiful.

Sometimes broken can be beautiful. Sometimes broken is where we find our true strength. Sometimes broken is where we need to be in order to get to somewhere much greater that we could never have reached any other way.

The Self Love Daily Challenge #012: Embrace your brokenness. 

It’s ok to be broken. It’s ok to be in a hard season of your life. To feel like every day is a challenge. It’s ok. We shouldn’t be afraid of being broken. We shouldn’t be afraid of experiences hard things. It is only through these challenges that we face in difficult times, where we learn how to become stronger and overcome and eventually grow within ourselves. Have you ever realized that when we feel weakest, a part of ourselves is revealed that we never were in tune with before. We become more vulnerable. We learn to accept deeper emotions. We are basically forced to confront these dark aspects of ourselves that we have always been too afraid to venture into before. And sometimes it’s good to discover these parts of ourselves. Sometimes we need to in order to move forward to the next level or next part of the journey in our lives. Because sometimes without experiencing these things, we will not be prepared for the next part of our journey.

Yes, it is hard to feel the brokenness and all that comes along with it. It’s not something that you go out and seek, but if and when it does come we should not try to run away from it or avoid it. We should instead embrace it. Embrace that this is also a necessary part of our journey. Embrace that it does not make us any less of a person, but rather creates an even stronger self. Embrace that our brokenness is never wasted and that because of our brokenness we can then in the future help others who are going through similar events that we went through.

It is not shameful to be broken. So many beautiful things are born from things that were once broken. God can always use our hurts and our pain. He can always use our brokenness for ultimate good. He can always create something new out within us from our brokenness. And most importantly, through our brokenness, our weakness, His strength shines through. That’s the most beautiful part. That when we are weak, He is strong. He is showing us how powerful He truly is because He can always make something out of our nothing. He can always create beauty from ashes. He can always create a way where there is none to be seen.

I felt broken, completely shattered at many points in my life. But most recently after my mental breakdown last August. I felt useless. I felt unworthy. I felt like there really was no good that could come out of any of this. But with time, and a lot of faith and a lot of patience and self love, I have come to think otherwise. Yes, it’s been a hard, HARD journey. Yes, it was an even harder challenge to have the kind of faith that God was requiring of me. But i’m seeing now that my brokenness was not wasted. In fact, as much as it may sound weird, I am rejoicing in my difficult experience and my pain because without it, I would not be who I am today.

Through my brokenness, God showed me parts of myself that I never knew I had. He opened me up to the truth that I was not loving or caring enough towards myself. That I was seeking a kind of perfection that was very unhealthy. He showed me that it was ok to face my fears rather than run from them, and that by facing them, I would become stronger and more brave. He showed me the power of vulnerability. That by being honest with people, instead of hiding behind a mask, that it would open me up towards a more honest, deeper kind of love and human connection that I could experience from others. He showed me that it was ok to love myself when I felt imperfect. He showed me that my trials would not be wasted. That my journey and my experience would be a comfort and encouragement to those who are going through the same thing. That they would not feel alone through their struggle and in turn be more encouraged in getting through their own storm. Through my brokenness, I realized what aspects of my life were toxic. What areas I needed to cut ties with. What people I needed to weed out. What unhealthy behaviors and thoughts I needed to be renewed.

My brokenness was a transformation. It was a renewal. It was a purification of mind, body, and soul. And brokenness doesn’t always have to be tied to God either, but it does show how great of a healer He is that He can turn our brokenness into good. But nonetheless, we can still embrace our brokenness even if we are not religious or Christians. We can still find the good that comes out of it. We can still learn to love ourselves even when we are broken or when we feel whole. It doesn’t matter. We should embrace how we are at any point in our lives because everything we face, no matter how small, matters. It all plays a part in the great journey of our life purpose.

So I challenge you, embrace your brokenness. Embrace every part of yourself. Try to find good in the pain or the hurt you feel. Try not to run or hide from it. Try not to get rid of it, forcing yourself to become whole before you are even ready. Just sit with it for a while. Sit in the brokenness and maybe you will find some beauty there.

xx

Christina Ciro