Let’s agree to no longer apologize for being ourselves.

We are wasting valuable time.

And let’s no longer wish away our gifting, when our insecurities surface inside.

Sure there may be things we all want to personally work on and improve, but let’s give ourselves some grace. To quote researcher and author Brené Brown, “I am enough.” And so are you. We are just right, while we become our best selves. So let’s stop comparing. There is no other you. I am the only me. That uniqueness is a big deal.

No more apologies like…

• I’m sorry I talk so much.
• I’m sorry I’m too quiet.

No more wishes like…

• I wish I were funnier.
• I wish I were more outgoing.
• I wish I were creative.
• I wish I were more…whatever.
• I wish I were less…whatever.

I am me. I continue getting to know and understand myself. You are you. We are just right. We are enough. Goals and dreams are important, but wishing we were more this or less that will choke out the life in us. We end up wasting the gifts that are ours and our role in the present.

In Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Goldilocks spends a day discovering what is just right for her. I want to live my life discovering what is just right for me and to realize I am just right for whom I am meant to be.

Though I continue to grow and live life with intention, I want to be brave enough to avoid comparing myself in unhealthy, unrealistic ways. Perhaps that means less social media time. Perhaps that means avoiding advertising that tells me I am not enough. As Theodore Roosevelt so wisely said, before Facebook was even a thing:

I am enough. I am just right. And so are you. Find the courage to be happy right there. We’ll all be better for it.

Stay charming, my friends.