Good enough, adequate, satisfactory, fine, decent
All of those words sound negative to me. They say ‘sure it’ll do, but it could be better’. From a very young age I’ve aspired for more, bigger, better, and lately I’ve realised that good enough is, in fact, good enough.
Like lots of people I always used to think I was special, destined for exciting and wonderful things. That nothing less would satisfy me, and I mustn’t waste my life with mediocrity. I was born part of a generation who were told we could be and do anything we dreamed of. I took this literally, and fully expected that I’d have achieved greatness by my early thirties. Since then I’ve wasted too much time thinking that I’ve failed.
I thought that settling for anything less than a life filled with excitement and achievement was failing and have beaten myself with that stick with every passing year. In fact wasting your life worrying about what you ‘should’ be doing is more of a failure and so with determination I tell you this. I am enough, my life is enough, and so is yours.
I wake up every morning to a house filled with people who I love and who love me back. I am comfortable, with everything I need and plenty of the things I want as well. I am fortunate. Why shouldn’t this be enough. Why do I feel bad when people ask me what I do for a living?
My garden is south facing and in the summer I can sit at the table that my husband built for us and enjoy the sun warming my shoulders whilst my children play. So why do I worry that I’ve not got a big plan to write a novel, or become a columnist?
I experience a feeling of utter bliss when curled up on my purple sofa, wood burner crackling and a favourite show to watch . I don’t need more than this to be happy so why am I wasting my time worrying about what I’ll be doing in ten years time and whether it’ll be worthwhile.
Enough with the should and the could. I’m done with feeling like I need to explain why I’m at home, not working with no plan to change this situation. I don’t need to achieve in order to be happy. I’m lucky, I’m happy and that is good enough.