Written By: Lauren Howard
There is a never-ending balancing act between “enough” and “not too much.”
I'm not talking about a responsibility to stay between the predetermined lines.
I mean that women are both expected to do all the things while not offending anyone with our talent, skills, confidence, capabilities, critical thinking skills, or general exhaustion with the environments we exist in.
Here’s the thing:
You are, without hesitation, both.
You are enough. You are enough with everything you juggle, every expectation you carry, and every pressure you put on yourself.
You’re enough just as you are, without doing more, taking on more, shouldering the burden of more.
You’re enough no matter how far you feel you missed the mark or how hard you mastered everything today.
You’re enough without lifting a finger. You’re enough by existence.
But you’re also not too much.
You’re not too big, too opinionated, too bossy, too intimidating, too controlling, too anything. You’re not too big a presence.
You don’t have to shrink to fit to make anyone else happy. Stay whole and let them choke.
The reality is, that we live in a daily balancing act of trying to remind ourselves that we are whole and enough as we are AND that we should not have to be less to exist happily.
And it’s so hard to feel like you’ve hit the right balance of those scales.
You’re enough and you’re not too much.
You should neither be crushed by the expectations of anyone else nor oppressed by the thoughts that ring through your head.
How is it possible to feel like you’re getting anything right when those two parts of you feel like they’re in direct conflict?
I still haven’t mastered it, but I’m working on it.
Who do you listen to?
Start with community. They’re the only people who are always there to keep me on track.
And, of course, I’m here if you need me. As are the women and femmes of The High Rise.
You’re enough. You’re not too much.
You’re perfect and entirely not. It’s why we like you.
Founder & CEO at elletwo