Don’t let them in, don’t let them see
Be the good girl you always have to be
Conceal, don’t feel, don’t let them know
Well, now they know

Let it go, let it go
Can’t hold it back anymore
Let it go, let it go
Turn away and slam the door

I don’t care
What they’re going to say
Let the storm rage on,
The cold never bothered me anyway

                 -Let It Go, Idina Menzel, Frozen

Most of the growth and destruction in this world comes through ripples. It’s not the big life events, or the unusual circumstances, that cause us to end up where we are. It’s the everyday, ordinary-looking ripples.

We can think that we are doing well. We can look at others at think, “I’m glad I’m not like they are. I’m glad I don’t struggle with this, have this difficult circumstance, act like they do, think like they do.” It becomes a subtle wave of pride and false security that moves us toward our future. In the end, though things might have looked good on the outside, this subtle wave can send these ripples through everything that we do and say, until we realize we have ended up in a very bad place. And those ripples have caused unnerving destruction, in our lives and the lives of those around us, though hardly noticed along the way.

On the other hand, we can choose to be vulnerable. We can be open, authentic and real about our struggles, our doubts, our weaknesses. And this can send ripples of a different kind through our lives and the lives of those around us.

At first, in our vulnerability and weakness, we can seem to be crazy, losers, less than. We might be looked upon as someone who will never make it in life; someone who doesn’t have it “all together.” We might come across as proud or “in your face” because of the rawness of the truth. We might be looked down upon. But these ripples, though somewhat shocking and disconcerting at the start, become a subtle wave of freedom and growth. This waves builds and grows into a massive impact of truth and liberty for those around us. In the end, what appeared to be so bad in the beginning yields something unbelievably amazing.

The difficult decision to choose vulnerability and authenticity and truth may be unpopular, painful and a tough road to stick to. But it creates the right kind of ripples for the future.