Good Enough

Too often in our culture, we are made to believe that we are not enough. Not thin enough, not smart enough, not rich enough… just not enough. We go through our lives always trying to BE more. Be cuter, be more popular, be special. What a mess that is. Just by being alive, you are enough. I am enough. We ARE good enough.

I mean enough for what? Who gets to decide the benchmark on cute, rich, popular, smart, etc.? The mean kid in your homeroom in High School? The bully at the water cooler at your job? Truly it can’t be a kind and loving person, or there would never be the risk of not being enough because surely within us, we are already “enough.”

Why are we always looking for something better? The beautiful things in front of me are more often than not “enough.” My car gets me from one place to another, is it not good enough? My computer works and allows me to earn a living, is it not good enough? We seek the next best thing before we’ve even had the chance to enjoy the things in front of us that are good enough.

The people you love are enough to fill your life with joy. Why do we ask them to be more? Why don’t we accept them where they are at? Do we accept ourselves where we are at? Why not?

There is a lot of life that happens while we’re running after more. What moments of stillness are we missing? What quiet beauty is forsaken in our search for more or our running from not enough? What if we looked at our lives through the lens of abundance and at ourselves in the mirror of “Oh so much!” What if we found joy in what we are instead of disappointment in what we aren’t?

Then we sometimes run into the opposite problem, don’t we? People want us to be MORE because we’re not good enough, but then whoa what? Now you’re too much! You’re too loud, too talkative, too outspoken, your clothes are too bright, you make too much money… Sometimes it feels like we are destined to spin back and forth between not good enough and just too damn much. Where’s the balance in this? I’m not sure there is balance. Unfortunately, I think it’s up to each of us to figure this one out on our own.

I don’t have the answers to any of these questions, nor solutions for any of the conundrums. But I know it’s changed my life when I’ve viewed myself as OK, instead of not good enough. When I can see my gifts and my flaws and believe it is ok to have both and still be “enough” there is a calm and a peace that surrounds my life. Knowing that I am not everyone’s cup of tea, but I allow myself to be enough for ME, I gain a confidence I didn’t have the moment before.

Each time I stand up and remind myself- I AM ENOUGH- I grow stronger.