Are you enough?

Yes.

Are you enough?

Yes.

Many of us grow up feeling like we can never do enough, which translates into our feeling we can never be enough. The people in our lives - parents, teachers, and others - certainly don’t intend to make us feel this way - well, most of them don’t. They are simply passing along what they know, what they have been taught. Unless the people who raise and teach us have done their inner work, they can’t help but pass along what they were taught. They are not enough and we are not enough. No wonder the world is in such a mess.

Guess what? This does not have to be a permanent condition. We have the ability to change our programming. The program runs deep, yes. Truly embracing that we are enough just as we are, is not an easy thing to do. However, if we have been programmed to believe we’re not enough, we have the ability to reprogram ourselves to believe we are enough. There are  different ways to approach this. Here are three.

If your feelings of not-enoughness are so deep that you come close to hating yourself, engaging the support of a counselor is invaluable. A well-trained counselor or therapist can give you the support you need to identify and release the underpinnings of the self-hatred. Every time I see a commercial on television for therapy, I feel so happy that this is now well-accepted in our culture. Hopefully the old stigma is gone and people can access the help they need by working with a therapist or counselor who knows what they are doing,

Another way is to respond to every negative thought about yourself is by turning it into a positive one. Whenever you catch yourself thinking negative thoughts about yourself, simply say, “I am enough just as I am.” Write this down on sticky notes you will see often. Write it on your bathroom mirror and sing it to yourself. Immerse yourself in feeling good about yourself. Yes, I know, Saturday Night Live had entire skits devoted to making fun of affirmations like this and the skits were funny. But affirmations done properly can work. Do some research and find out if this is a path to which you’re drawn.

Lastly, look into some sort of organized coursework that could help you. There are many available today. Use your search engine and ask, “How can I feel better about myself?” There are many spiritual groups and classes that can help. Try MasteringAlchemy.com, or Ananda.org, or look into your local Unity church or Center for Spiritual living. Not only do these groups offer spiritual programs that can help, but lots of practitioners of various kinds are involved in groups such as these. Perhaps you will met one there with whom you can work.

You are enough just as you are right now and right here. So am I. So is everyone else on this planet. Let’s do our part to support ourselves and others into full acceptance of enoughness and watch the world change.

Comment below if you have ideas you want to share with other readers about how to embrace “I am enough.”

Living with grace and ease,

Krysta