Day 29: In the epilogue, I talk about how the journey to “enough-ness” is never complete. Talk about your own journey to enough-ness, and how you’ve learned to embrace who you are, flaws and all.
I’ve always wondered who came up with the idea of individuals being enough in life. I think we’re all internally driven to be something more for ourselves, but I also believe that society puts a ton of pressure on us to be acceptable by whatever standards they set forth. Honestly, I think it’s impossible for us to be completely accepted for being who we are, and that mentality is exactly what makes us all feel like we’ll never be enough. There’s always someone more successful than us, prettier than us, skinner than us, more in love than us, happier than us, etc. As long as we allow ourselves to compare our lives to that of others, we’ll constantly be in limbo with wondering if we’re truly living up to our fullest potential.
It’s human nature. It’s normal. It’s expected, but there’s just one little thing that we all need to remember when we start doubting ourselves and questioning whether we’re enough: COMPARISON IS THE THIEF OF JOY.
This is something that I literally have to remind myself of every single day, usually multiple times. I’ve always struggled with insecurities, and I’m sure I always will. I’ve been told my entire life that I’m too hard on myself. It’s something that I’m well aware of, and I do my best to work on it, but old habits die hard. Some days are easier than others. I have a list of things that I don’t necessarily like about myself, but as I get older, I’m realizing just how much more I need to work on finding things that I do like. I need to treat myself better by only speaking kind words. I consider myself to be a pretty nice person to other people, but lately, I’ve been wondering why the heck I can’t be as nice to myself as I am to others. It can get pretty frustrating. A lot of times in my writings, for example, I write words that I need to hear. However, it’s usually easier for me to direct them towards a more general audience because it feels less intrusive to me.
Throughout this challenge, I’ve shared a lot about my past experiences and lessons I’ve learned. Although, I’ve grown so much over the last few years, there’s still a part of me that wonders if I truly am enough. To be quite honest, I’m not sure that that wonder will ever truly go away, but I’ve accepted that. I realize that I can be a work in progress and a masterpiece at the same time. My quest for being “enough” may never be complete, but I don’t really think that it’s meant to. If I reach a point in my life where I feel like I’ve fully accomplished everything that I wanted to accomplish, then I’m sure I’ll still want to know what more is out there for me. I don’t see anything wrong with that.
I think one of the most beautiful things about living is knowing that it’s a journey full of unexpected twists and turns that will only build us into stronger individuals.
La Bella Vita 