Are We Enough?

 So many times we feel that we are not enough. We feel insufficient, like we are lacking, or that we are not worthy of love. We often hold ourselves to what the father of Humanistic Psychology, Carl Rogers, would refer to as "conditions of worth."

A few weeks ago, I was feeling like I was not enough. As I was engaged in my self-loathing I had a thought come into my mind. Rather than say "you are not enough", say "you have not yet become all that you could become." 

It is possible to be enough, as we are, while acknowledging that we have not yet become all that we could. Think of a little child. You would never (hopefully) look in the face of a little child and tell them that they are not enough, simply because they have not yet become a fully grown adult. 

That little child is enough, even as we acknowledge that they have yet to become the fully grown adult that they can become. 

As another example, think of a little tree sapling. It would not make sense to say to that little sapling "you are not enough." While it is true that it has not yet become a fully grown tree, that little sapling is enough in that moment. 

In our lives we have to balance the idea that while we always have room to grow, we are enough. We are worthy of love. We have value and worth that we do not have to earn. From a Christian perspective, God loves us no matter what. He would never say "you are not enough." Rather, He loves us unconditionally and encourages us to grow so that we may become what He wants us to become. 

It makes no sense to ridicule ourselves because we feel insufficient. When we talk to ourselves in a way that is demeaning it never truly encourages us to be better and to continue growing. 

So remember that you are enough even while you acknowledge that you have not yet become all that you could become.