Undoubtedly, the catalyst behind many successes in the world is a need to prove something because one feels inadequate, but the best path, the path that satisfies the soul, is one of completeness at every step of the way. Taking this path makes living a joy, because it doesn't postpone that feeling of being enough. Being enough is not something we achieve. It's something we are.
The most satisfying path, then, isn't so much what we are accomplishing as what we get to be, while we are accomplishing.
We get to be the creative power of the Universe, conscious of itself. We get to be whole, complete, enough!
The purpose of life is to satisfy the soul, and though acknowledging your accomplishments can help in this effort, it cannot take you the full distance. The only thing that can satisfy your soul is an answer to the question, who am I? You are an individualized expression of Life, of greater consequence and magnitude than anything you will ever accomplish.
When we focus on the fact that we are enough now, the beginning, the middle and the end of every journey—whether it's finding a mate or getting a better job—is filled with a sense of well-being. We may complete an experience and even be thrilled by the outcome, but we know that we are no more complete than when we started out.
You see, we are either enough right now or we're not; and if we are, then we're challenged by our enough-ness to live that way.
The problem is, most of us don't listen to the inner voice that says, "You're enough because you exist." We ignore it because being enough doesn't fit the image we have of ourselves. We have spent so much time thinking of ourselves as not being enough that enough-ness seems very far away. We may have a sense of being surrounded by the Life Force, but we forget that the Life Force is also within us. And if the Life Force is within us, we are enough.
How easy it is to be Bible-oriented and still gloss over one of its most important statements, "Man was made in the image and likeness of [the Life Force we call] God." And if the Life Force is enough, we must be enough.
Being made in the image and likeness of God isn't something we have to strive for. It's something we must have the courage to accept.
The root of all of our problems, then, is a faulty self-image, because the natural tendency of mind is to surround itself with whatever it has embodied. If I embody fear and doubt, I will surround myself, to one degree or another, with people and circumstances that reflect fear and doubt. If, however, I embody faith and trust, I will surround myself with people and circumstances that reflect faith and trust.