You Are Enough

Are you able to recognize your own patterns of feeling ‘less than?’  How do you respond or react to those feelings?  What practices do you have in place to address them? 
 
The first sign for me in recognizing that I’m not feeling like enough, is when I begin to compare myself to others.  A mental cycle ensues, and an anxious desire to do something about it, sets in.  If only I do this, then I will have that.
 
My own internal thoughts of being ‘less than,’ reflect outwardly.  Mentally, I cut others down as ‘less than,’ so that I can more easily cope with my own feelings of inadequacy.  Although it’s hard to admit that truth, it’s there…quietly existing within me. These feelings, are human feelings.  However, these habits do nothing to accentuate my (our) true growth as humans. 
 
Certainly, we are a competitive culture. We often view our success through quantitative tick marks.  Not just in the wealth we accumulate, but also these days, through the number of viewers we gain on social media.  We thrive on getting this kind of conditioned feedback.  Although numbers certainly are a necessary and logical way to quantify success, it does not always lead to internal peace and contentment. 
 
So what does? 
 
There is a basic quality to our existence.  It's the simplified quality that exists, every time we take a breath.  It exists with each heartbeat. 
 
We glimpse upon this basic quality when we experience something meaningful like the birth of a child, when we peer at a photo that evokes a simple memory of time spent in celebration with those we love the most, or when we taste a passed down family recipe we grew up with.  This basic quality exists, in the simple things. 
 
It exists when we are surprised by the beautiful sunset that we unexpectedly view from our kitchen window.  It exists when we swim in the ocean, come upon a beautiful view while hiking, or when we lie in the sunshine and take in its warmth on a sunny day. 
 
For many of us, it takes hardship or tragedy to rattle us back to remember (and honor) the simple things.  We forget in our world of accumulation, to take in the enjoyment of those simple things that bring us back into our true nature.  There is typically so much noise, occupying our hearts and our minds.  Like a giant clap of thunder demanding our attention, tragedy rearranges our worlds in such a way…that we’re reminded of the simple things, and the simple times.  For in the wake of tragedy, it’s the simple things that help us piece ourselves back together again.  
 
For me, that tragedy happened less than a year ago when my Dad died.  Within two hours in learning of his passing, I was on a plane.  My world as I knew it up to that point, was turned on it's head.  
 
After arriving to the funeral home to make decisions that I was aware I would have to make, after viewing my Dad’s lifeless body, and after weeping in the arms of family members that I had not seen in years…I sat alone in my hotel room.  In the wake of making some of the most difficult decisions that I had ever made in my life, a voice quietly came over me, “You are enough.” 
 
It dawned on me.  Everything I do, in this world, occurred to me.  All the efforts I (we) make, both small and large...matter.  Sometimes we don't really realize that, until we experience a loss.   By losing something or someone we care very much about, we are reminded of those small, even meaningless experiences.  The same experiences that seem to transform into something profound when it's no longer there.  With our changing perspective, comes waves of confusion and then simultaneous waves of clarity.  We have to settle into that, which feels unsettled.  Within that space, is an opportunity of deepening the experience of our existence.  
 
We are reminded what it means to be alive.  We are reminded that it’s about the simple things.   It’s about our deeper connections to ourselves, to others, to our earth…that brings meaning into our lives. 
 
In that connection, we our reminded that we are enough.   As I now reach the year anniversary of my Dad's death, I reflect on the moment of confusion that brought about the clarity of being enough.  As I've work through my own grief, I have solidified practices that remind me of the simple things, and the feelings of being enough.  

For the next week, try these practices each day
:

• Take five minutes to sit with your breath.  As you inhale through your nose, sense for expansion around your rib basket.  Guide your inhale breath downward towards pelvis, and acknowledge being rooted into the earth. As you exhale through your nose, sense your ribs contracting back towards your spine.  Guide your exhale breath upward towards the crown of your head, to grow long and tall in your spine. Pause and observe the space between each breath.  Remind yourself that it's important to take time4u2breathe.  Your (exhale) breath down-regulates your nervous system, and kicks into your parasympathetic system.  Don't worry about clearing your mind, just breathe and be.  Sense for connection on this earth on your inhale, and exhale to be reminded of the strong backbone we need to stand tall even when it's difficult to do so.  
• Take five minutes to write something that you acknowledge as being a challenge.  It's often our day-to-day challenges that funnel our thoughts of not being enough.  Take a moment to look it square in the eye, and sit with it.  After you write a few sentences to acknowledge that challenge, write an intention for gradually overcoming the challenge.  Acknowledge that there's a process for all things, and that this challenge too will take time.  Let your intention be a small step towards mentally shifting your awareness and perception.  
• Take five minutes (more if you can), to observe your outdoor surroundings.  Notice the wind in the trees.  Bask in the sunshine.  Sit under the light of the moon.  Build a fire, to sit next to.  Acknowledge that you, like your ancestors, are inhabiting this earth.  Take a moment to honor that ancestral connection, and your connection to being human. In the silence of your reflection of taking in the simple things, remind yourself that you are enough.