Actually, You Are Enough!

Do you think you are enough?

Are you good enough? Strong enough? Pretty or handsome enough? Intelligent enough?

Marisa Peer did a great talk on being enough. She highlights that most of us don’t feel we are enough – be it good enough, pretty enough, intelligent enough or (add your adjective here) enough. The truth is you are enough, you don’t need anything else. You are perfect just the way you are.

When I heard that, the little voice inside my head said: “Yes I am enough, but… but my skin has spots on it and I don’t fit into those jeans and I am not earning enough money and I still haven’t run that marathon…”

I don’t know about you, but I am always able to find fault with myself or my behaviour (that is partly due to my perfectionist tendencies and constant striving to be better). I do think that Marisa Peer does have a valid point. I am enough just as I am. I was born enough. When I was born, I didn’t need to do or be anything. I was just me, and that was OK. That was enough.

When I realised that I was enough with no buts…I realised that I didn’t need anything else. It didn’t mean that I stopped wanting to live and achieve. It just meant that I could do so with peace and confidence, knowing that I am enough regardless of what I do. I was free, to just be me.

So, how do you get to believing that you are enough? Marisa Peer suggests writing “I am enough” on the mirror in lipstick. Personally, I used white board marker as I didn’t want to waste my good lipstick and it’s easier to clean. Write it where you will see it. Look yourself in the eye and tell yourself that you are enough. Repeat it 100 times a day. Yes, 100. Until you start believing it – that you really are enough, just as you are!

In addition, I do think you can help your brain believe that you are enough by using your body. It is great to keep telling yourself that you are enough – and you are enough, a thousand times enough – but you live in your body. You experience life through your body. So it makes sense to use your body to enforce the affirmation that you are enough.

Breathe.

Every living being breathes but the majority of the population are “shallow breathers”. The term “shallow breathing” means that you only breathe through the top section of your chest and forget about your diaphragm.

Shallow breathing is your body’s way of notifying your brain that you are anxious or in state of stress. If your body is constantly telling your brain that you are stressed, how is your brain going to believe that you really are enough when you can’t breathe properly. Deep breathing helps the body to relax and gives it the oxygen it needs.

By using a combination of deep breathing and the affirmation that “I am enough” you are giving your body and mind the best chance of believing it. Deep breathing or belly breathing is using your lungs and diaphragm. To learn how to practise deep breathing click here.

In summary, you are enough. You always have been and always will be, just as you are. Keep telling yourself that you are enough. Write it on your mirror and breathe. Help your body believe the affirmation that you are enough by giving it the oxygen it needs using deep breathing.