Are You Enough?

I’ve been journaling since I was nine years old. When I was younger, I wondered what the heck I was going to do with the diaries and journals I was accumulating, but I kept them anyway—and I kept writing. The first time I sat down and started re-reading old journals, I was shocked. The patterns that emerged from those entries (mostly lots of festering anger, at that point) gave me important information about how my logic was working (and not working). After that experience, I made it a point to periodically review big chunks of my journals. That’s how I discovered a disturbing trend: I was never good enough, or smart enough, or disciplined enough. I was never enough of anything, and when I couldn’t think of a specific area in which I was lacking, I was just not enough, whatever that meant. I wasn’t even sure myself.

A couple of years ago, when I was making this discovery, I noticed a book because its title spoke to my ill-defined problem: You Are More Than Enough by Judi Moreo, which also has an attractive companion journal. Apparently, I wasn’t the only person battling this “enough” issue. I like a self-help/inspirational book to give me something practical and immediately useful, and Moreo’s book gives readers both. The book is slightly slanted to women, although anyone can benefit from her advice. She covers everything from correcting a negative attitude to the importance of personal appearance (she cites a lack of concern for personal appearance as one of the symptoms of poverty mentality). Moreo calls upon her extensive background as a personal coach to help readers overcome self-imposed limitations, uncover goals, and pursue their dreams. “If you had all the money you would need, all the time it would take, and you knew you absolutely couldn’t fail, what would you do? Who would you do it with? Where would you go? What would you have? What would you want to be? In other words, what goals would you set for yourself, if you knew you couldn’t fail?” She encourages readers to develop an image of what they want their lives to look like, and to keep that picture in their minds.

Moreo advocates keeping a journal, which is why she designed one to complement her book. I loved the little star stickers that came with the journal she created. The inviting design encourages you to grab a pen and start writing. Remember, writing down your goals dramatically increases your chances of achieving what you desire. Write about what you want your life to look like, and you’ve taken the first step toward that life. Of course, journaling has many benefits, like helping you identify self-sabotaging, “not enough” mindsets.

What about you? Are you enough? I agree with Moreo—we’re all enough. Sometimes we just need help to see it.