Read this when you feel like you're not doing enough

Sometimes when you’re trying so hard, you feel like all you do is strain and you never can really touch whatever you’re reaching for. 

It’s always inching farther away. 

You’re always questioning if you’re reaching for the right thing. You’re racing around the room looking for new things to stand on. The new thing that will surely lift you to the success you’re so desperately straining for. 

You don’t realize you’re doing more than you think you are.

You don’t see what we see.

You don’t notice the progress we observe. 

You don’t feel the appreciation we feel in our hearts when we see the things you’re putting into this world.

All you know of yourself is that there must be more to give. All you feel is the fear that you will fall or the fear that you will never be able to hold what it is your reaching for.

But we see you. 

We see you showing up. We see you struggling a little, and we see you showing up anyway. Getting stronger every time. We see you growing when in reality all you feel like doing is shrinking back down into the fear. 

We always feel like we are doing so much less than what everyone else sees and takes value from. 

Something you put into the world that feels too simple or too similar to something else - or maybe too different - it might feel like magic to someone else. It might amaze them. They might see themselves in it and for the first time in their life feel truly seen, when all you saw was every little flaw.

Be grateful to yourself for everything you’re already achieving.

Like growth.

Don’t you see how much you’ve grown? How far you’ve come?

Stop for a moment each day just to appreciate every little bit of growth you’ve achieved. Every little failure that you learned even the smallest lesson. Because those little lessons that you found hiding under every rock of failure is what will propel you forward. Every little step is an inch closer to whatever it is you want out of life.

Appreciate that. 

Thank yourself for pushing past the discomfort and fear and uncertainty to grow just a little more.

Thank the universe for every new opportunity awarded to you in that day. Every chance to try something new, or hear something you liked, or taste something delicious. All the things you learned - the moments of curiosity and the moments of clarity that took you by surprise.

You achieve a lot in a single day.

When you feel anxious that you haven’t done enough, or that you haven’t been enough of what you needed to be, think about your growth. 

And if you feel like there isn’t enough of that in your life, don’t dwell on today. 

Don’t wallow in regret for what you haven’t done.

For what you haven’t accomplished yet.

That doesn’t really matter does it? All that matters now is who you are moving forward because that’s the only way to go. The choices you make in the remaining hours of today. And the next day. Each inch of growth and new decisions and habits, taken day by day. And how each small change will add up to a new person a year from now. A life so different then you can even imagine in this moment.

Don’t dwell on the morning you spent in bed or the afternoon you spent in front of the TV. That’s done now. It’s okay. Maybe you needed that. And even if you didn’t, you can’t change it now. It’s okay. You don’t need to feel guilty for that.

You’re doing okay. You’ve made it this far. Did you ever stop to think about that? You’ve survived everything you’ve ever been through. Everything you’ve been through has established a foundation for everything you will become moving forward.

You still have time, you know?

You still have time to do thing that make you feel good and whole and proud of who you’re becoming.

Stop wishing you were someone else.

Stop thinking it would be easier if you were. Don’t convince yourself that success would be easier if you were someone else. Don’t compare yourself to others so much that you stop believing you are capable of doing whatever it is you want in life. It’s not only for them, that thing that you want. 

The world is abundant. Your piece is there for the taking. But it will only be yours if you step out and take it.

Don’t wonder if you should even try. Or sit there overthinking what it would mean to try. People are a culmination of their beliefs and their actions. Take new actions. Unwind your old beliefs and spin new ones.

You don’t have to sit with your old beliefs forever. You don’t have to keep letting them into your heart. 

You don’t have to stay where you are. Move forward. Move out of this place that keeps you stuck. Get off the merry-go-round that takes you around and around but never forward. 

And when you do, don’t forget to notice.

Don’t forget to be grateful for the things you do accomplish. Don’t forget to give yourself space to just exist. You don’t always have to be pushing towards success. Take breaks to appreciate.

Just as you take breaks on a long hike to nourish yourself, take breaks to replenish so you have enough energy to move forward later. Make stops along the way to take in the magnificent view of how far you’ve come. Appreciate the body that has taken you this far. Tend to the muscles that ache from over-exertion.

It’s amazing what you can do.

It’s amazing what you have done. 

And both are equally as important to notice.