Do you think you're not enough?
"I don't feel like I'm doing anything well. I'm not a great mom. I'm a VERY average wife, AND I'm definitely below average at work. I never feel like I'm enough."
This was a real-life confession from a friend.
I wish I could say it was unusual.
However, variations of these statements drift into far too many of my conversations.
I didn't know where to begin, so I asked the only question that occurred to me:
How do you define "enough"?
She took a minute and thought about her answer. When she replied, she did so without the slightest hint of irony,
"Enough is more than what I'm doing now."
Aha.
Introducing the world's most notorious moving target and the arch enemy of contentment...
MORE.
What is it about life these days where we set impossible standards, kill ourselves trying to meet them, and then feel misery and self-loathing because we fail?
Why are we so hard on ourselves?
Maybe this isn't a universal phenomenon. Perhaps there are people who are confident they are "enough." Maybe there are men and women who feel as if they are nailing this thing called life.
I just don't know them.
I know lots of individuals who put on facades indicating all is well, but they aren't fooling many people. Most people are searching for the end of "more" and looking for "enough."
In the middle of these conversations and when the do "more" voice whispers in my ear, there's only one truth that I want to recall and impart; only one thought that helps.
The thought is that we are made and loved by God and he has made us enough.
Be gentle with yourself.