Enough

Have you ever felt like you aren’t enough?

Not good enough. Fast enough. Strong enough. Brave enough. Smart enough. Thin enough. Pretty enough. Accomplished enough.

I have been in that place more times than I care to count. I will leave a get together and overanalyze conversations I had, and things I said. I will look in the mirror and notice my flaws more than my beauty. I will compare myself to others and begin to notice everything they are, and all that I am not.

Have you been there? Do you know what I’m talking about?

It’s so easy to fall into that trap. Especially now. With social media, we see the most glamorous sides of people. Their best moments, cutest outfits, vacation highlights, fancy meals and all of the fun they seem to be having on a daily basis.

But here’s the thing……

How many photos did it take to capture that one image? How many times was the button clicked, and how edited was that photo, before it ended up on your feed? How many times did the kids have to be corralled and coaxed and maybe even bribed to get them to sit for that one photo? It all looks so effortless. So glamorous. So perfect. But if I had to guess, it took a whole lot of work to get that one perfect shot.

I try to remember this when I’m scrolling through social media. I think of how many images I took to get that one that shows up in my accounts. It may look perfect, but perfection is not reality.

I try to remember this when my mind starts to go down the not enough path, and I begin to believe the lies that I’m not good enough. Pretty enough. Thin enough. Young looking enough. Talented enough. Accomplished enough.

We can be so hard on ourselves. So very hard.

So friends, here is what I am going to attempt to do. Whenever my mind starts to go down that unwanted trail, I am going to attempt to replace the negative internal voice with something positive. Instead of looking in the mirror and seeing wrinkles, I hope to look in the mirror and see all of the smiles that created those lines. Instead of leaving a gathering and wondering if I said the right thing, I am going to think about all of the fun I had with my friends, and how fortunate I am to have those friends.

When those thoughts begin to rear their ugly heads, I am going to try to catch them. Hold them captive and turn them into something beautiful.

I will never have a perfect body. Or the nicest house. Or the best clothes. Or a face without wrinkles.

But those things don’t matter. What matters is that I try to love those around me well. That I focus on God, my family, my neighbors, my friends. That I try to be kind to those I encounter. And that I acknowledge my wrongs, ask for forgiveness, and continue to press forward in confidence, knowing God is with me, and He has gone before me.

I may never be able to amount to the world’s standards, but I don’t have to.

I am enough. Because I am a child of God. And He loves me as I am.

Today.

And always.