Who among us has not at some point thought: I am not good enough. I am not smart enough. I don’t have anything to offer. I am not good looking enough. I’m not skinny enough. I’m not tall enough. I’m not in shape enough. I am not deserving. I am not worthy.
I could go on, but I think you get the point. Whether personally and/or professionally, occasionally or on a regular basis, we all wrestle with these kinds of thoughts about ourselves. It happens to me almost on a daily basis. Whether it’s because something didn’t work out the way I had hoped or I find myself comparing my life to that of others, thoughts like that always manage to find their way inside my head.
And what can make it even worse is the fact that it often appears as if everyone else has it all figured out (thank you social media) and we are the only ones over here struggling. Can you relate?
We all battle these same thoughts and fears. Some people may try very hard to deny or hide it, but we all do…it’s part of being human. We all struggle with:
- Fears about success and failure…
- Fear of sharing our vulnerabilities…
- The difficulty of “adulting” in today’s world…
- Personal inadequacies…
- A general sense of failure and shame about any of a number of things in our life…
And while we all experience these kinds of thoughts and emotions, when we are knee deep in them ourselves it’s easy to feel alone. But one of the most valuable lessons I have learned in life so far is that this is something we all have in common…I am not alone in this.
As humans, we all want to feel like we belong and have a sense of purpose. We all want to love and to be loved. We are not alone, no matter how often we get inside our own heads and try to tell ourselves that we are. It is easy to forget that as we rush through our busy lives every day, but if we stop long enough to look around (and by that I mean look at places other than just social media), to listen, and to talk with other people it quickly becomes apparent that we all share in this battle. We can learn from one another, provide support and comfort to one another, as well as take a little comfort in the fact that we are never alone.
Knowing all this is half the battle…the other half is working to stop that nonsense talk in our heads. For more on that, check out Lessons in Humanity, Part Two.
Guest Author: Bobbi Billman, Ignite Yoga
