Announcement: Today’s post is by R J Goldie. She’s the FIRST place winner of the “You Are Enough” writing contest! Please join me in congratulating R J for her inspiring message.
It’s raining outside as I type this today.
Hurricane Florence is making her way to the Carolina coast, so even though I sit here hundreds of miles away in New England, I try not to complain about the rain we are starting to receive from this storm.
All I need is a good umbrella. I don’t have to “batten down the hatches” as tens of thousands of people who live along the beautiful Carolina coast are doing. Not knowing what the magnitude of the storm will do, I’m sure they are saying lots of prayers that they don’t lose their homes…or their lives. Many may worry that their efforts to secure their homes just wasn’t enough.
Seventeen years ago on this day we remember the tragic events that led to 2977 people losing their life at the hand of 19 terrorists who also lost their lives when the four planes they had hijacked were flown into the Twin Towers, the Pentagon, and the thwarted attempt to strike the White House which caused one of the planes to crash into a field in Pennsylvania instead.
Every year we have memorials and lower the flag to half mast in remembrance of all those who died. Somehow it doesn’t seem like enough for all those who lost their life nor for their loved ones who still mourn.
This past summer I got word of two people who chose to end their own life. I don’t know the circumstances, but as I read through all the comments left on social media, I had to ask myself, “Why did these two important and valuable people believe they weren’t enough?” Though they were enough for us, there was something in them that made them feel otherwise.
When I opened my mail this afternoon, I was happy to find a letter from a friend. She shared that she was up early and had some time so she decided to write to me. Since I was on her mind, she said she prayed for me and hoped I was doing okay. It was nice to hear that.
She went on to share about a time in her life when another friend of ours called her from the college where he worked and asked her if she would be interested in coming to work at the college. He believed she would be just perfect for the job. She accepted the position, but her thoughts were this, “Why would someone like him, want someone like me for that job?”
She didn’t believe she was enough.
So this brings me back to the name of this writing contest, You Are Enough. Others know this about you, so why don’t you?
Why do you question your efforts, worry that you’re not doing enough, worry that you did something wrong when bad things come your way? Why do you believe that you don’t matter, that your life is of no value to anyone? Why, oh, why do so many believe they are not enough?
The truth is this…you are enough.
If I type it in all caps and type it three times will you believe it?
YOU ARE ENOUGH, YOU ARE ENOUGH, YOU ARE ENOUGH?
Probably not, but that’s okay.
Here’s the deal…if you question whether or not your efforts are enough, it means that you made an effort at something.
That’s ENOUGH.
Have you ever stopped for a moment in your busy day to remember someone who died or many who died in a tragic event? By doing so you stepped out of your shoes for a moment and thought of someone else.
That’s ENOUGH.
When someone tells you that you are amazing, believe it. When they want you for a specific job that means they thought of their options and it came back to you. You stood out in their mind. You…just you. To them, you are ENOUGH.
Be amazed and grateful that someone believes in you the way you should believe in yourself. Yes, you have and you will still make mistakes. You will mess up from time to time. That just means you tried.
That’s ENOUGH.
For anyone who is reading this and believes that the world would be better off without you, that your life doesn’t matter and that your loved ones don’t need you, I ask that you stop for a minute and look at those people who are in your life.
They love you and believe that you are more than ENOUGH for them. Maybe they have neglected to tell you, but because you were always ENOUGH for them, they will tell everyone how wonderful you were…after you’re gone…which is sad because you can no longer hear it or benefit from it.
Take some time, every day, to tell someone how their smile brightens your day. They need to hear that.
Tell someone what they have to say is important. They need to hear that.
Tell someone what a beautiful soul they are, how they made you laugh, how you could always count on them. They need to hear that.
Tell someone they did a good job or that you could tell they gave their best effort. They need to hear that. People need to hear every day that they are ENOUGH.
You need to hear that you are ENOUGH.
We all have a voice.
We can tell each other, or we can write that voice for others to read. We can text it, we can email it, we can post it on social media. It doesn’t matter what means you use, somehow, someway take some time every day to encourage each other…and remember to listen when others are telling you that:
YOU ARE ALWAYS ENOUGH.
We just don’t do that near ENOUGH.
