“There’s a difference between Am I enough and Am I DOING enough,” Bruce Brackett.  When I first heard this I thought it was a bit trite or even on the wrong track.  If we place our value on what we produce or someone else’s definition of “enough” then we are on the same path as acting on someone else’s approval.  But when it comes to self-worth, I agree with this sentiment—we need to know that what we do and our talents are always more than enough, but we always have the opportunity to decide what we are doing with them.  The question comes down to the reality of our purpose which is to use our gifts to help others.  If we aren’t doing all we can to help others then we are depriving ourselves of the opportunity to fully express who we are.  This is the ironic part of being fully who we are—when we help others we feel good and when we feel good we shine and when we shine we light the way for others and it becomes this self-perpetuating cycle of feeling good.  Which, for some of us, we were taught that feeling good is selfish.  But that is the surest way to care for who we are and when we fill our cups enough, they flow onto others.

Brackett’s point is along the lines of this: we are always enough.  No matter what we are always enough.  The talents and gifts we have are exactly what they need to be and it’s our job to hone them and refine them and make them into something useful that complements and serves the world—every talent serves a purpose, and that includes our random skills.  That comes down to us remembering that we are also always able to do more—not that we need to learn more things to do, or learn to acquire more things, but we are able to better use our time and use our skills to do something productive.  That means we can do more of what brings us joy, do more of what we love.  We control the pattern of our thoughts and that means we are responsible for managing what we feel to negotiate and manage what we do.  When we feel capable and have a good understanding of who we are, we are more open to sharing what we have. 

Instead of questioning our worth when we feel low, we need to question our motivation.  Are we looking for proof that we are good enough? (ego).  Or do we need to find ways to do more good? (purpose).  When we fill our purpose the soul knows it.  It’s important to distinguish between the two because we can often make ourselves feel incompetent or useless through seeing validity of who we are rather than putting our skills to use and doing good.  Sometimes the absence we are trying to fill comes down to what we need to do rather than finding validation of who we are from other people.  When we know how to utilize our skills for good, when we know how to fulfill our purpose, we rarely ask others to confirm our worth.  The question of doing enough is something that can only be answered from within because we are the only ones who limit ourselves.  If we can do more and share more, the soul knows it and gives us nudges.  Don’t misinterpret that for a question of our worth—rather it’s a question/reminder of what we need to do with our focus and energy.  We are always enough—make our actions match that truth.