You Are Enough: An Open Letter | The Odyssey Online
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You Are Enough: An Open Letter

If you think you're not good enough: You're wrong.

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billboard says you are enough

You are enough. You may not hear that as much as you deserve, or you may hear it so often that you just don't believe it anymore, but it's true. I know what it's like to struggle with this feeling of not living up to certain expectations, whether they be my own or someone else's, but I'm here to tell you that you are worth so much more than you make yourself out to be.

I know what it's like to try something 100 times and still not be able to get it right. I know the pain that you feel when you try your hardest on something, but you just can't seem to perfect it the way that everyone wants you to. Let me remind you of something: you are not perfect; you are human. You will make mistakes hundreds and thousands of times, but that doesn't mean you aren't good enough. You will stray from your normal path and get lead down one that you never thought you'd see yourself on. You are worth more than every single choice you could ever make. Your choices do not define you. Let me repeat that: you are not defined by the choices that you make. You are going to let people down. You are going to fail. You are going to mess up.

But you are worth it. You are worth the mistakes, the failure, the constant wandering away from what you know is right to what you know is wrong. I know that there is at least one person out there who always understands you, knows you, and still accepts you for everything that you tear yourself down for. Keep your head up.

woman reflects with sunset Photo by Dingzeyu Li on Unsplash

I know what it feels like to get rejected or out-casted; exposed and denounced. I understand the heartbreak you feel when you're pouring everything you have into the ones you love, but you feel unappreciated. I know what it's like to wear yourself down to the brink of a breakdown for the ones you love. You are compassionate. You are kind. You are encouraging. You are important. You are enough. You are enough for the people that you pour into and you're enough for those you don't. You are enough for your friends, your family, your teachers, and your peers. You don't have to push yourself to the limit in order to feel like you've proved yourself. You are worth more than the hurtful words that get aimed towards you. You are worth more than the gossip exchanged behind your back. And let me just remind you, no one's words are important enough to becoming defining factors of who you are. You alone is plenty enough for at least one person, and this one person is God.

You are loved. You are deserving. You are worthy. You are desirable. Your identity is not found in your mistakes, but they are unraveled and made new in Christ. Find peace in knowing that when you think your actions aren't sufficient, you are looked at as perfect by God, who is more important than all of those people making you feel as if you're not. He'll be waiting for you with open arms as you wander down that broken path, calling you back home. He loves you. He loves you and finds you more beautiful than the clearest ocean or the highest mountain. And if you don't believe me, that's fine, but it's extremely important to know that no worldly person has an opinion strong enough to characterize who you are. You are extremely, abundantly and unexplainably loved and cared for despite what you feel. So when you're in doubt of you're worth, just take a deep breath and remember that there is someone out there whose love and adoration for you will never alter, die out, or cease, and He will always think highly of you.

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