Be You!

We live in a day and age where the words 'not enough' are constantly spoken. There is not enough time in the day, not enough money, or we feel as if we are not enough. When we don't have enough time, we feel as if we are stretched too thin and not enough for all the people and demands that require our attention. We look around at other people and think, 'well, if only I was that person, I would be enough', or, 'if only I had what they have I would have it together'. For too many years, so much of my time was spent comparing myself to other people and coming up short. I was not enough.

It has taken me until my forties to realise something really crucial. I need to be me. The person God made me to be, not the person I think He might love more than me. I need to be the me I was created to be. God already has one of the person I am comparing myself to and not only will I be not good enough to be them (because only they can be them) I will also be not doing a great job at doing what I need to be doing - being me. I am who I am, with all of my failings and all of my imperfections, and all of the things I do well. I am not perfect, but that doesn't make me not enough. Being not perfect makes me human, useable, and generally more relatable to other people who are probably doing some comparing of their own.

Be you! Be you in all your glory - warts and all. Tell yourself you are enough. One of my biggest issues is negative self talk. I think I must call myself a moron at least twenty times a day. I have decided that when I catch myself doing that, I am going to tell myself five things I like about myself. If you have an issue with a negative message constantly playing in your head, I challenge you to write five things down every day that are enough about you. Five things that you are proud of, five things that you like about yourself. Read them out loud until you start to replace the negative thoughts with positive thoughts. If five is too many, start with one - start a list, add to it every day, and read it out loud.

You can't be all you are supposed to be if you are comparing yourself to someone else. I am a photographer, and in this digital age where everyone can get their hands on a digital camera that takes a really decent shot and then post it on social media for the world to admire, it is easy to look at the work of others and feel that I am not good enough. I am not saying that there is anything wrong with admiring other people's work and wanting to be better or seeing something within someone else that you really want to work on within yourself. What I am saying is that when comparison becomes a downward spiral and ends with you feeling not enough and feeling jealousy towards another person then it is not a healthy path.

You are unique - celebrate who you are. Celebrate the good things, work on the bad things, and continue to be you. There is only one of you, and when you try to be someone else you deprive the world of the unique things that you have to offer. Let yourself be okay with you. Be you!