Enough is Enough

What is “Enough”?

This week, I’ve been asking myself this question. What is enough? How much progress constitutes “enough” for the day? I’m pretty good at showing up every day. I’m pretty good at making incremental daily progress. I often don’t, however, feel like I do enough each day. So this makes me wonder. Really, what is enough? I’m Going to Stop Me Right There...

...because I’m an advocate of self-compassion. Listen up, me. Self-compassion requires that I offer myself the same kindness and care I would offer to a dear friend (thank you, Kristin Neff). So here’s my message to me. And you.

It’s okay.

Today, I can do what I can do.

And for today, that is enough.

Dear Friend

My experience as a parent and a teacher and a coach is that big change DOES happen. Over time. Even when we don’t notice it or feel it or see it, we are making enough of a change for today. We can’t judge and criticize ourselves for how much progress we did or didn’t make. We just have to be patient and keep showing up. Parents and teachers and coaches often see the progress kids, students, and athletes don’t see. Let’s tell ourselves what we would tell our dear friend. Trust the process. Trust that we are making progress. Today, what we can do is what we can do. And for today, that is enough. That is what I’d tell a dear friend. So that is what I must tell myself.

But There’s Another Enough

We have an “enough” as is what we do, but we also have an “enough” as in who we are. So the next question we might ask is “are we enough?” To answer this, I’m going to refer to one of my favorite books, The Gifts of Imperfection by Dr. Brené Brown. The “gifts” she identifies in her book are Courage, Compassion, and Connections. Think about this. Through our imperfections, we can gain courage. We can gain compassion. We can gain connections. These are some pretty awesome gifts. So even though we are imperfect people, we can know that we are worthy of love and belonging. And we can know that we are enough. This is what Dr. Brown calls “wholehearted living.”

“Wholehearted living is about engaging with our lives from a place of worthiness. It means cultivating the courage, compassion and connection to wake up in the morning and think, ‘No matter what gets done and how much is left undone, I am enough.’ It’s going to bed at night thinking, ‘Yes, I am imperfect and vulnerable and sometimes afraid, but that doesn’t change the truth that I am also brave and worthy of love and belonging.” Brené Brown

We Are Enough

So is enough enough? The answer is yes. Yes, changes happen slowly. And yes, today we can do what we can do. And yes, that is enough. And yes, we are enough. Let me say that again. Today, we can only do what we can do today. And that is enough. And we are enough. Meaningful change takes time. So let’s give ourselves permission to do what we can do. Let’s give ourselves permission to be imperfect, but worthy. So let’s be courageous. Let’s be compassionate. Let’s be connected. Let’s embrace today and live it wholeheartedly. And if we can do that, then for today, that will be enough.

Enjoy the day.

Because that and we are enough.