You are good enough

Have you ever worked really hard to get what you want only to find out the end result wasn’t as satisfying as you thought?

I have been training really hard during my life to be good at something. To feel like I am good enough. To matter. And lately, to make a difference.
I have had all A’s in my college career, graduated with honors. Became the first Mexican to win a world championship. Being a News Anchor on National TV. Qualify for Olympic Games at 44. Help in a charity… Great, right? well, not really. At the end of the day nothing of what I have done matters. It doesn’t mean it was not worth it, it just means I was lucky to have those results (as much as in luck equals a lot of really hard work) but what really mattered are the lessons I have learned from the journey I had to take to get there.

If life was about results only, then life would be so much more simple. Lance Armstrong (and the general public) would be feeling great about his 7 tour de France wins. But, life is not only about results, it’s about what you have to do to get to those results (which is why the world fell out of love with Lance). The struggle, the grind, the obstacles you have to overcome to get there. And sometimes you don’t even get to the end result that you hoped for but you get way much more from the journey and just simply for trying and keeping at it.

I did have luck in getting good results at the moment that it mattered. Winning by one hundredth of a second in world championships was luck. The other girl was as prepared as I was and I just happened to touch first. Being somehow good at what I do is no luck. I work every day for what I have. From the 4am wake ups to go for a run when I rather sleep, to pushing through discomfort when I rather back off. 
But, as I was saying, I have learned through the discouragement, through the injuries, through the moments that things haven’t come my way (which are more than the ones that have and because of them when things go my way are much more meaningful) that life is about the journey and not about the destination.
When we have to face our fears, our discomfort, our true self blossoms. We learn to enjoy the grind, the present moment. We learn that we are more than our results, we are the result of our effort and our quest to be better. We learn that as long as we keep trying there is hope. We learn that is not the big result but the little victories (training when you are tired, refraining from eating junk food before a race) that make us better, that define us. And we learn that, in this, we are not alone. There is more people trying to be better than they were yesterday and that are struggling, grinding, facing their fears just like we are. And, in this, we also learn that we are more than good enough for being good enough has nothing to do with a result but with the process and the quest for it.

We are good enough just as we are. We are not good based on some assumption that we need to achieve a certain result or being a certain size or fit a certain pattern. We are more than good enough because we try, because we don’t give up. And we matter. There is always someone who is looking up at you and wishing they had your life, your ability just as you look up at someone else and wish for the same. When you feel like giving up, when you have doubts, remember that: you matter and you are good enough, just like I am.
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