What if you were already enough? Exactly as you are?
I’m not asking you to believe me, but I am asking you to entertain the question.
What would it be like to feel that you’re already enough?
We’re surrounded by messages of not-enoughness. From the time we’re children, these messages are already tunneling so deeply into our subconscious that we don’t even notice they’re there. But for most of us, those messages are like insidious weeds.
Our society runs on not-enoughness. Capitalism, corporate culture, social media, fashion, even the wellness industry—their success depends on convincing us that we don’t have enough, we’re not doing enough, and we are not enough. They convince us that we just need to buy one more product, work longer hours, do one more diet, change one more thing about ourselves, and then we’ll finally feel good enough, cool enough, attractive enough, healthy enough, successful enough, lovable enough.
Don’t get me wrong–I have no problem with the concept of self-improvement. We can know that we have intrinsic worth as human beings and still work toward greater self-knowledge, better health, or more successful careers. What matters is how we approach it. Are we working on our fitness because we know we deserve to live in a body that feels strong and healthy, or are we doing it because the constant barrage of fitness models on our Instagram feed made us feel bad about ourselves? Are we operating from shame or love?
If we look externally for our sense of enoughness, we’ll never find it. That feeling can’t be bought. It can’t be given. It can’t be earned. It must come from within.
Enoughness is accepting that you have value simply by existing. You don’t have to earn your worth. It exists whether you recognize it or not.
But if your sense of self-worth depends on other people’s opinions of you, it will feel very fragile.
Everyone views the world through the lens of their own experiences and their own vulnerabilities. That means that someone’s opinion of you isn’t really based purely on you—it’s based on their own projection of you.
What if that person who made you feel bad about yourself is simply projecting their own insecurities onto you? What if it was never even about you?
What would it be like to move through the world knowing that you don’t have to earn love—that you can find it within yourself?
How would it change things for you?
I challenge you to consider moving through the rest of the day contemplating the question–what would it be like if you were already enough? Just notice what happens and see what a difference it makes.
Journaling prompts/Reflection Questions:
If I could feel (just for today) like I am enough, I would stop ____, start ______, and continue _______.
When I say to myself “I am enough as I am”, what do I notice in my body? (Does anything soften or relax? Does anything tighten? What do I notice?)
If I knew that I didn’t have to earn worthiness, how might I move through life differently?