Enoughness

Are We Ever Enough?

Friday’s Prompt: At what point are you good enough? When are you self-improved enough to accept yourself?

We live in a world where we are forced to compare ourselves to other humans that we don’t know. Unless you have lived under a rock or in a well-protected bubble (like I tried to do), you have some form of social media and some of us tend to look to these platforms for validation.

For instance, how many of you have fell victim to the numerous stories on Medium advising you how to write to make money? When I first started out, I read a few of them and I even considered taking their advice. I soon realized that what they were advising did not resonate with me. There were too many “experts” in the mix, so I decided to make my own way.

Unfortunately, some of us find ourselves reading these articles trying to land that chance of going viral. But once you go viral, your next move will be to go viral again. But what if you don’t? Then you’re left feeling lack, questioning your own validity, and feeling like you’re not enough.

I read a story by Tim Denning who made a profound statement about wanting to retire in the next 5 years. In it he wrote:

“I want to retire from the need to acquire money. “— Tim Denning

What if Medium were a platform that did not pay us to write, would you write anyway? If your answer is yes, then that is your validation for whether you are good enough. You are good enough for you and not for the outside variables that try to validate your “enoughness”. Don’t allow the money that someone else makes, the claps that they receive determine the reason for your passion. If you feel good about something you produced, then that should be enough for you.

Why is “enoughness” not a word in the English language? It is something that we all try to seek every day. Each night when we settle in, to enter dreamland, we all want to feel fulfilled. I can honestly say that I don’t know if I have ever achieved that feeling. There is always something in question that prevents me from coming to that conclusion. So here is how I am choosing to approach it.

Am I enough?

I would like to be, so I work hard each day to validate that within. I try to not allow something or someone else to dictate this for me. Some people view my life and think I am incomplete. Because I haven’t checked the milestone boxes that the world forces us to check. But, checking those boxes would only lead to a life spent checking more damn boxes.

We live in a world where there are an endless number of boxes to check. So, instead of existing in this world to check off boxes, I have decided to live in each moment and accept my life the way it is. My self-acceptance coupled with my passion for living in each moment is enough for me, but only in that moment.

I wrote this piece for a family member after I asked him what would he do for free. I am trying to get him to find his passion and stop comparing himself to those around him. I would like him to know that his enoughness comes from within, and that he should do what makes him happy instead of trying to check off boxes.

Joseph Lieungh, each moment is just that, a moment, and it is enough.

This was written in response to 𝘋𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘢 𝘊.’s Friday prompt.

Thank you all for reading. And thank you 𝘋𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘢 𝘊. for creating the space so that we all can revisit stages in our lives, tell our stories, grow, and heal. KTHT has been a rollercoaster, one that I don’t mind getting on