Requesting help is a heroic act
.Living is begging for a place with acquaintances. In your solitude, you see faceless threats. Worries bump against the inside of your head like steel pinballs. You feel restless, lonely and vulnerable. While others live their lives, you feel like a spectator at the edge. So what do you do?
You would prefer to retreat, turn yourself off until everything is over. But you know that hiding doesn't help you move forward and decide to get moving. You confront the sneakiness of drugs, the turmoil of homelessness. You start arm wrestling with debt or you sprinkle life into the smothering silence of loneliness. Even if you don't yet know which direction to take, you take a step. That's "vulnerability courage."
Fragility Courage (self-styled noun): The strength to be open and honest and confront your problems despite the risk of failure, rejection, shame or pain.
People who report to The Rainbow Group confront drugs, homelessness, debt or loneliness. They ask for help, start conversations they don't know where they will lead. They are real heroes.
We support these brave people as best we can. Do you encounter someone going through such a struggle? Ask them to stop by The Rainbow Group. Maybe we can do something.
Text: Joost Slis Drawing: Coen Braber