If there’s one word that I’ve been battling with lately, it’s this: enough. Ugh how I loathe that word, but then can love at times. It’s my personal ongoing struggle, yet it’s also just a word that’s part of growing in life. But what I’m learning is the word isn’t the problem. It’s how it’s used.
Let me clarify a bit…
First off, let’s define the word, enough.
Merriam Webster defines it as as follows:
Enough / adjective: Occurring in such quantity, quality, or scope as to fully meet demands, needs, or expectations.
See, it’s really a simple word. What’s gotten messed up is the darn scope, demands, needs or expectations.
On a daily basis I’ll come across the following messages in some shape or form, sometimes blatantly, sometimes passive aggressively, sometimes subliminally, sometimes I just put them into my head because I’m weird like that:
Are you doing enough
Are you healthy enough
Are you big time enough
Is your future stable enough
Are you making enough
Do you look young/good/ageless enough
Is my kid achieving/doing enough
Are you big time enough
Am I happy enough
Am I contributing enough
Is my home clean enough (The answer will always be no to that one. I’m cool with it. )
…it goes on and on.
It’s quite exhausting to think about.
According to society’s daily message, I should be wearing more hats, eating perfectly and living to the nth vibrant degree 24/7, have a million followers by now, my own house that I built with my own two hands while my kid sleeps, have more zeros behind my monthly income, looking like I did when I was in my 20’s (even though I like myself a bazillion times more nowadays), and have a spotless home and a 2 ½ year old who is trilingual and plays the harp. And many other things. There. Would that be enough?
Nope.
So, here’s what I’m doing, and it’s helped me a TON.
It’s this: I’m just trying to kick any of those enoughisms that feed my self doubt or stir up any thoughts of inadequacies and anxieties to the curb. They keep trying to creep in on me on a daily basis. So I’ve been working on my roundhouse kick.
Because the answer to all those enoughs is this: Yes.
Know you’re doing your best, and there will always be someone doing/acheiving/with more in various realms of life. Good for them. Good for you. We’re all different. Praise the lord for that.
But then I think there’s some positive/empowering “enoughs”. They are the kind of enoughisms I have a fun and motivating relationship with. They make me feel good about where I’m at, or where I’m going, or are kind of a daily self check that creeps up on me:
Here’s a few examples:
Am I laughing enough
Am I seizing the day enough
Am I being present enough
Am I growing enough
Am I humble enough
Am I seeing enough beauty
Am I grateful enough
Am I Kind enough…
I don’t know what it is exactly, but those kind of enoughs are personal. You tend to look inside, interpret them in your own way, feel good if you even tried a tiny bit, and you tend to not compare. They get me. I like to call them my inner enoughs.
If that all makes sense, consider my mission accomplished.
I’ll try to wrap this up before I set the world record for times enough is written in a blogpost.
The whole point of this post is this: You can’t really avoid the word enough, but you can use your encounters with it wisely. If an “enough” makes you feel like crap, or stirs up anxiety, and makes you ungrateful for who you are, what you have, or where you’re at in life…put on your mental Bose headphones to that messaging trying to get into your head. Then, practice your roundhouse kick and kick it to the curb.
However, if it it’s an enough that inspires you, fills you with joy or motivation, and helps you… embrace it. Work towards it. Chances are it’s something that we could never have enough of in this world.
The struggle is real and ongoing, but I swear this mindset helps.
There you go.
I think I’ve written enough.
Cheers to embracing the struggles and figuring out a path that works along the way.
Love,
Rebekah
Figured now would be a good time to repost this poem too…
