You Are Enough

You know those days where you wake up early, journal, workout, get the kids to school on time, hit every work deadline, eat your meal-prepped lunch, work a full day, somehow make it to pickup at 3:30, cheer from the sidelines, come home to a spotless house, put a healthy dinner on the table, and get everyone to bed at a reasonable hour?

No? Me neither.

But imagine you did pull all of that off (nevermind adding a child with special needs into the mix). Would it feel like enough? I'd argue it wouldn't. Because the illusion this world sells us through fear and the endless scroll has carved a comparison hole in all of us that no amount of praise, admiration, or productivity can fill.

"And here's the thing: this existence wants you busy. So busy you forget who you actually are."

Society has taught us that success is the path to life. And the western world defines success as money, status, and wealth. I get it, I want to live comfortably too, and that desire feels harder and harder to reach with each passing week. But is that really the way?

That's a question I've been asking my entire life. What is the point of all this? What am I doing here? This feeling hit especially hard in 7th grade algebra and organic chemistry 2 in college but math aside, does anyone actually know the answer?

In my seeking, I've been fortunate to receive awards, accolades, and recognition. And honestly? That constant search for approval has also left me at times with depression, guilt, burnout, and a hole far bigger than the one I was trying to fill in the first place.

"Mother Teresa said success is loving others the way God loves us."

So this year I ran a little experiment. What if I laid down the worry. The posting, the striving, the financial anxiety, the state of the world and just focused on loving myself, my family, my friends, and my community well? I was already doing some of that. But this year I added a twist: what if I stopped telling everyone about it?

Let me tell you. It's uncomfortable. We are so conditioned to a dopamine-driven, people-pleasing culture that doing good quietly (without the post, without the likes, without someone telling you that you're doing a great job) feels genuinely foreign. A little scary, even. There's this moment where you do something kind, something real, something that costs you something, and your first instinct is to reach for your phone. And when you don't, there's this strange silence. Like, did it even count?

It counted.

✦ ✦ ✦

Because here's what I've learned: when I set the fear aside and remind myself that God is my CEO, something shifts. The hole starts to fill. Not from the outside in, but from the inside out. And I am continually amazed by the miracles that have shown up in my life since I stopped performing my life and started actually living it.

So instead of staring down your impossible to-do list and beating yourself up for not registering for camp yet (I am absolutely talking to myself here) go outside. Sit in the sun. Feel the warmth on your face. Take a deep breath and remember that you were put here on purpose, for a purpose, and that purpose is not your productivity.

You are not behind.

You are not failing.

You are a human being, not a human doing.

You are enough.