Here’s a blast from the past… a Facebook memory from three years ago when I had just finished a project called the 30 day WriteYourselfAlive challenge. (Though history would suggest many things are just beginning.) This has been the third time through for me. As in the past, I wrote consistently, at least for me. I followed some of the prompts. I also chased some rabbits. And I listened to the voices of virtual friends who were essentially actual strangers. Except they weren’t.
I noticed something new this time. So many people struggling with the feeling of being “not enough.” It seems like mostly women but that’s a loose theory at best.
Where did we learn that?
Seriously, where did we learn to believe that we are not enough?
Was it family? Or teachers? Churches? TV? History?
More importantly, how do we un-believe it? And how do we help our little ones not to fall into the same trap?
If you’ve been reading my stuff for a while, you might have noticed that I’ve spent a lot of time in school. Somewhere along the line I met the theory that there are two primary motivations for all human behavior. One is fear. The other is love, passion, enthusiasm, or some variation on that theme. (Which pretty much works if you allow for the notion that anger is secondary to fear.)
I wonder if we made more choices out of our love, our passion, our enthusiasm, we might be less prone to not- enough- believing. (Let’s be clear….this is just me pondering.)
It feels true, somehow.
Not enough is a fear thing.
Let’s don’t do that so much! Let’s do love and passion and enthusiasm instead!!! Enthusiasm, by the way, is Greek for filled with g/God, which is pretty cool in whatever way you understand it.
I suspect I’ve been pondering all this for more than 30 days. And, I’m probably not done, hanging, as I do, with a system or two that, historically, might rather I feel not enough.
Today, though, I got out my invisible ink pen and wrote(!) on the inside of my left hand, where I can check it as often as I need to: love, passion, enthusiasm! My invisible ink pen writes in purple, for transformation. You can have one, too. I have lots!
As my Qigong guru would say, “Believe it; it works. Don’t believe it; it works!”
Here’s a link to one of my current endeavors to act out of love, passion, and enthusiasm. To be more enough…
https://fineartamerica.com/artists/sue+boardman
Scroll down a bit and send me a comment on some of yours! Together we encourage each other, and our kids!