By: Julia Gonsalves
Throughout my life, I always felt like I wasn’t good enough. I could never make the varsity team. I was never able to date the boy I liked. I was never smart enough to take that AP class.Â
All I ever wanted was to please the people around me. To be cool enough for my friends or to be accomplished enough to make my family proud. Yet all the doubts I had always made me fall short of these goals.
The majority of my life has been spent dedicating myself to other people. Everything I had ever done was to make someone else happy. As a result, I became miserable and pained with both depression and anxiety. My self-confidence disappeared and I felt like I was not myself. I wasn’t enough.Â
During my senior year of high school, I decided I wanted to change. I wanted to stop dictating my happiness based on the approval of others. I began to do things for myself and stopped caring what other people thought. Since then, I got myself a part-time job and moved out on my own. I put myself first and flourished.
It can be hard to remember, but you are enough. No matter what anyone says, you are good enough to do anything you set your mind too. While setbacks and failures may arise, you can persevere by focusing on yourself, not what others think. When life pushes you back, when you feel like everyone is judging you and when you feel like you cannot breathe, it is important to remember that you are enough.Â
Regardless of what anyone thinks or anyone says. You are important and you will get through this.