Embracing flaws 2

“You are enough. A thousand times enough.”

– Atticus

If I was to write a list of my flaws, it would look something like this:

• Too shy
• Too task focused
• Too needy
• Not fit enough
• Too serious
• Not intellectual enough
• Too analytical
• Terrible at telling jokes (awkward silence)

When did I ever get the idea that I was either too much or not enough?

“You Are Enough” – it’s all over the internet at the moment but I’ve always struggled with this phrase. ‘Enough’ seems like such a small amount. I want to be over and above – more than Enough. But when I looked into what Enough actually means, I was astounded.

Enough

[ih-nuhf]

(a) in a quantity or degree that

answers a purpose or satisfies

a need or desire; sufficiently.

Enough: in a quantity or degree that answers a purpose or satisfies a need or desire; sufficiently. Enough doesn’t mean, just enough to get by. It means sufficiently, satisfied. It means answering a purpose – sufficiently.

So if I’m Enough, if I’m sufficiently answering a purpose, satisfying a need or desire – where do my flaws belong?

What if my list of ‘flaws’ looked like this:

• I’m shy, so I often look for someone else who’s feeling shy and left out – and approach them with a friendly “hello”. I prefer one-on-one chats anyway.
• I’m task focused, so I get a lot done.
• I’m quite emotional and can be sensitive, so I’m able to see when others are feeling upset or emotional. It gives me an opportunity to empathise with them and do what I can to support them.
• I struggle to exercise and eat well – that’s cool, I have a lot on my plate (ha!) and I’m making gradual improvements. Everything counts!
• I’m quite serious which means I’ve had some great conversations with people about really interesting (and sometimes personal) subjects.
• I’m more creative than intellectual and I love this about myself.
• I think deeply and have gained a lot of insight by doing this (it helps with those conversations too!).
• I’m terrible at making jokes. Ah well, I’m good at laughing at myself!

Can I encourage you to take a re-look at your ‘flaws’? Take a good, honest look at them; write them down, embrace them. We all have things we’re working on but once we embrace our ‘flaws’ and see them in a different light, they’re not nearly so flawed. Maybe they’re even ‘flawesome’?! (there goes a bad joke! – see, embracing my ‘flaws’!)

Let’s love our whole selves as we rethink the way we look at ourselves.

Cheering you on as you embrace your ‘flaws’,

Joni x