Do you ever notice your mind wandering off and talking crazy to you?

Telling you that you are not worthy, that you are not good enough.

That if only you had this or that, everything would be infinitely better. Somewhere along the way, I picked up the message that I needed more in order to be adequate and good enough. More accomplishments in sports, academics, career, money, food, drugs, alcohol, relationships, friends.

The list goes on.

Ultimately, it came down to this: there was this idea and illusion, that I was not good enough. That I could not thrive and survive on my own.

And that feeling of not good enough translated to a feeling of unworthiness.

Some days I find myself in this trap of unworthiness. It is hard to shake the mindset that more of something else will make me feel better.

In these moments, I forget that all that is needed in this moment is right there, directly inside of me.

I forget that I was put here as perfect in the eyes of my creator.

I forget that I am a daughter, a sister, a friend, an entrepreneur, a person.

I forget that I matter.

My world can become so small.

And all of these feelings of unworthiness can take over in the blink of an eye. I can snap my fingers and all of a sudden my perspective has completely shifted and the person I was five minutes prior—a confident, successful, driven, passionate woman—is gone.

Then I revert back to feeling like this unworthy person.

That doesn’t sound right. It sounds pretty silly.

It can’t be that one thought has the ability to bring in a built-in forgetter that is so incredibly strong that I lose my entire sense of self. I have to laugh out loud as I am writing this because the stories we play over and over in our heads can be so distant from the truth and reality.

These stories disconnect us and make us believe we are insufficient and need something else in order to show our face to the world.

If this is your reality, you are not alone. And remember, we don’t need to make this our reality. All it takes is a perception switch—and this perception switch is unique for each person.

When I integrate gratitude into my life, this perception switch happens almost automatically.

I go from feeling unworthy and ‘less than’ to feeling empowered, alive, and awakened.

Fortunately, this happens on a pretty consistent basis these days, but trust me, there are certainly times when the ‘not good enough’ feelings arise.

I notice myself repeating the affirmation ‘I am enough’ on a pretty regular basis. On a run, in the shower, on a subway, in a meeting, and even as I am sitting here writing this article.

So I hope that this serves as a reminder to you that you too are incredibly worthy!

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Editor: Renée Picard

Photos: bhumikabhatia at Flickr