One of the hardest things for me to do, in every aspect of my life, is know that I am enough. I tend to lack confidence or second guess myself because I am worried about what others think. I am scared to not be good enough as a friend, sister, daughter, teacher, coach, etc. and I don't like to let myself fail. When I do, I instantly think it is because I am not good enough.
As a society, we always want more; money, toys, clothes, time, etc. We focus on what we don't have instead of what we do have. I find myself struggling with this because I compare myself to others constantly. This quote inspires me to stop comparing myself to others and realize that I am enough as I am. We don't need to prove anything to anyone. We just need to make the most our of the life we are given each and every single day.
This quote inspires me to step out of the box and take risks to be myself in my personal and professional life. I want to start believing in myself more and teach others to do the same. This is a critical belief that everyone needs to learn to believe and I think it's important I get the message across to my first graders that they are enough.
As a society, we always want more; money, toys, clothes, time, etc. We focus on what we don't have instead of what we do have. I find myself struggling with this because I compare myself to others constantly. This quote inspires me to stop comparing myself to others and realize that I am enough as I am. We don't need to prove anything to anyone. We just need to make the most our of the life we are given each and every single day.
This quote inspires me to step out of the box and take risks to be myself in my personal and professional life. I want to start believing in myself more and teach others to do the same. This is a critical belief that everyone needs to learn to believe and I think it's important I get the message across to my first graders that they are enough.
Hi Jen/Jenn I am not sure how you spell it?
ReplyDeleteIt's Susan.
Today I have school off for Presidents Day so I decided to dive into homework. Looking at our class roster I wanted to reply to your blog because we haven't been in any small groups together. I wanted a chance to connect.
You are a good teacher to work on instilling worth to your students even though you struggle with this yourself.
As you know, I am the oldest in our class, by far! I want to assure you that living more years and experiencing many things will give you a perspective on life. Someone told me once that when you turn 40 you stop caring what other people think of you. I have now crossed 50 and I can add that once you turn 50 you realize how much you don't know about other people. Assumptions I had made melted away.
I am not sure if this gives you hope or seems so far away :) You seem open and willing so you may learn these lessons sooner!
Perhaps other people you know have tried to tell you that you are worthy, that it doesn't matter what others think, blah, blah, blah. However, I know it doesn't change your feelings. Feeling are hard to break.
Try telling yourself truths, don't listen to the lies that float around in your mind. We are all more complicated than how we appear on the outside. Both of my own kids have spent some time as teens with a counselor when they were struggling with self worth. Moms and Dads try to build our kids up but sometimes they need to new tools. I am not sure if this would be for you, but maybe something to think about.
When you look at your students with your heart and know how loved and worthy they are to you, bring a mirror and see your self this way too! This is what it true!
I think that you brought up some great points about how so many of us don't think that we are enough. Also, you hit the nail on the head when you talked about how we always focus on what we don't have, instead of being happy with the things that make us who we are. We each have so many things to offer, and unless we focus on our own strengths, we would all be the same person, which would be very boring.
ReplyDeleteAs teachers, it can be hard to "Practice what we preach," but I would make sure that you continue to realize that mistakes are our best opportunities to learn, and as long as you continue to realize you are enough, it will help you push yourself to be better and continue to find those learning experiences and get the most out of them! Thanks for being vulnerable and sharing on a deep level, I think you are a great person and should be very confident in yourself and your strengths!