What does it mean to be vulnerable?

One of the major obstacles to intimacy is the ability to be vulnerable: to let down your guard, to let the other person see directly into you, and to let them access a part of you that is asking for them for something.

So, what does it mean to be vulnerable?

I think that being vulnerable is equivalent to being naked and not knowing how the other person will respond when you have a plea.

• You have to be willing to drop trou (drop your trousers-- is that what that means?) and let it all hang out. 
• You are baring it all and knowing that the other person may not respond in the way you hope they would.

Being vulnerable is sharing your most uncomfortable self while asking for something. It's letting it all hang out while saying to the other person: "Now that you see my flaw(s), are you still willing to stick around to give me _____?"

• The question-asking is a critical component. If it weren't for that, then we wouldn't call it vunlerablity. 
• It's recognizing that there is a supply-&-demand dynamic and the other person has the power to say no so that you are rejected in multiple ways: 1) for baring your soul, 2) for the request you are making, and 3) for requesting while being naked. It's a triple TKO.

I so envy people who are able to be vulnerable. I am able to do it with friends, but definitely not in a romantic relationship. In a romantic context, I've always experienced it as a weakness, and the reason why someone would run away screaming in the opposite direction.