Are you enough?

I want to preface this saying I'm currently a senior mentor for a freshman study hall class at my high school. I've become extremely close to the freshmen I work with and many of them have turned into sibling figures to me. That means I'm very protective of them and I want to always keep them happy. Yesterday, I was scrolling through Facebook, and I saw one of my freshman girls had posted this picture:

Now, being overly protective of her, I immediately got concerned for her. Luckily, after reading her caption, I learned she wasn't meaning anything completely self-destructive, like I had thought. However, I know many others have problems like my assumption, so let's focus on that for a little bit. Let me guess, you've worked really hard on a project in your worst class, and you didn't get the grade it definitely deserved. You feel like you didn't work hard enough. Or, you desperately tried to fix a friendship/relationship with a toxic person and you ended up torturing yourself trying to get them back. You feel like you weren't a good enough friend. These are only examples, but you get the idea. Why would you think that? Why would you think you're not enough, working hard enough, doing enough? This is a really hard concept to grasp. Many people go through hardships in life and lose confidence in themselves because of them. These are the situations most taxing on my heart, because I've been there many times before. I won't go into all the drama flashing back to my mind right now, but I want to tell you what I've learned. The word "enough" is completely subjective to each individual. Too many people in this world go through life trying to be "enough" for others. That's where they're going wrong. Other people should not be dictating what is "enough" of you. Other people should not be dictating how much is "enough" if you. Other people should not be dictating your "enough value." You decide. You make the best of yourself, and everything else will fall in line. If you're doing the best you can, and others don't consider it enough, I recommend ditching them. You don't need someone degrading you this way and that. I've run into too many of these situations and it destroyed my self esteem. Here's my point. Focus on you. Focus on improving yourself. Focus on what you love and be the best at that. If anyone knows me, they know my biggest role model is Walt Disney, and one of my all time favorite quotes comes from him:

This quote has gotten me through some truly awful points of frustration in my life. I'm a perfectionist, and I work hard to be one, but often times things don't work out perfectly. When I'm frustrated with myself, or if others are upset with me, I just remind myself of this quote and remember that I did all I could do. All I can do is-truly- ENOUGH. YOU ARE ENOUGH, and don't let anyone else tell you otherwise.

Love, Noelle

#standards