Gentle Reminder: You are Enough

~ Julie de Rohan, eatonomy®

If I were to ask you why you’re not enough, you’d probably say “I don’t know, it’s just what I feel”.

But a feeling isn’t truth. It’s not fact.

It’s just a feeling.

If I challenged you to give me a list of your deficits and defects, would you struggle to produce evidence?

I’d hazard a guess most of us feel we’re not enough. How could we not? Our minds are saturated with ideals for which we should all be striving – the perfect house, the perfect car, the perfect body, the perfect phone, the perfect smile, the perfect life.

How could we not feel inadequate?

As we chug further into the 21st Century, decades of advertising – and our inevitable failure to live up to the advertisers’ impossible dreams – mean many of us are firmly entrenched in the belief we’re not enough.

And that suits them just fine. It’s genius, really. Keep us feeling deficient so we keep buying. After all, if we felt OK about ourselves, how would they sell us anything?

The truth is we all have issues with something, we all struggle at times and, from time to time, we all need support.

That’s not evidence of our inadequacy, it’s just proof we’re human.

So, the next time you’re busy giving yourself a hard time for not being enough, maybe stop and ask if it’s your own dream you’re failing to live up to, or the one you’ve been taught to buy into.

Tell me why you’re not enough and I’ll tell you why you are.

Because, despite what you feel, you most certainly are enough.

©️ Julie de Rohan 2019.

🌷🌷🌷

My very good blogging friend Cristy over at Mexi Minnesotana published a fantastic post earlier this week about the power of music which, by happy coincidence, ended with a link to the song “I am Enough” by Daphne Willis – you can check them both out by clicking here.

Published by Julie de Rohan, eatonomy®

A binge eating disorder specialist therapist helping people struggling with compulsive eating, emotional eating and binge eating.

31 thoughts on “Gentle Reminder: You are Enough”

  2. Great post, Julie. Again, I see the links with minimalism! I used to hear some people say they felt they weren’t enough but thought the solution was to get more stuff. More and more stuff was acquired but it wasn’t enough and therefore the feeling of not being enough never went away, and indeed got worse. The ‘stuff’ was acting as a barrier to asking the tough questions of why we feel we are not enough, and as you rightly point out, being bombarded with ads all the time just adds to this feeling. Peeling all of this away to find out who we really are is so important and if/when we get there, we find we were enough all along! Lxx

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    1. There’s a very strong link with minimalism here, Lol. I recently watched the Netflix documentary “Minimalism” (which I would never have watched had it not been for your blog) and what struck me most is exactly what you’re talking about. The idea that we’re supposed to buy more and more stuff so that we can be “successful and happy” and finally feel like we’re enough. But it’s a fallacy – as you say, the feeling of not being enough doesn’t go away and can even get worse. The same is true of chasing the dream of the “perfect body” – we feel it will make up for not feeling we’re enough. In reality, it takes us further and further away from ourselves, and away from authentic self-acceptance. On a (kind of) related note, I just want you to know the massive clear-out at home still continues and it’s feeling great – thanks to you and your minimalist inspiration.

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  3. Thank you for your kind and generous words, Julie! It’s both humbling and heart-warming. Glad you’re achieving so much joy and clarity from your decluttering 😘❤️

    Liked by 1 person

    1. It makes me sad, Karen, how many of us feel inadequate and unworthy simply because we don’t live up to ridiculous ideals. I’m glad you were moved, thank you for sharing that with me.

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      1. It’s always striking to me how different my standards are for myself than for other people. I see so much value and beauty when I look outwardly at others, and it’s ongoing work to see it inwardly too.

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      2. You’re not alone in that – so many of us care about and find value in others but struggle to find it ourselves. As you say, that’s where the work is.

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  7. Pingback: Gentle Reminder: You are Enough — Julie de Rohan – Survivors Blog Here

  9. It’s so saddening, isn’t it, that we all too often feel we don’t measure up and that we’ll never be enough? This is such a beautiful reminder that we are. Thank you for sharing. I think we probably all need to read this every now and then  ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
    Caz xx

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    1. You’re very welcome, Cristy. I couldn’t believe it when I read your post – the song you chose was such a good fit with what I wanted to say. Hope you’re having a good week.

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  11. Julie, I absolutely LOVED what you have shared. I believe strongly that we are all good enough and must remind ourselves of this daily! I am really looking forward to reading more of your posts. I actually started my blog almost 3 years ago and haven’t regretted it at all. Initially I started my blog to raise awareness about MS, but it has bloomed into much more. I try to spread as much positivity as much as I can all while remain honest and open. I look forward to reading more of what you share and hope if you have the time you will check out my site. I hope your week has been great!!

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    1. Hi Alyssa, thank you for your comment – it’s great to hear your thoughts. I’ll make a point of checking out your blog – it’s a good idea to follow if you’d like to read more of mine. Hope your week is great as well!

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  14. Thank you for sharing!.. it is difficult to be positive in today’s sometime negative societies but one should listen to only one voice, that of one’s heart… 🙂

    “Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do…” Pope John XXIII

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