Are You Willing to be Adequate?

 When I traveled to California in 1989 to study kinesiology/muscle testing at Three In One Concepts, I was still in the perfection stage of my life. I had to get everything right, do everything extremely well and meet or exceed my expectations. Yup. Exhausting.

When studying the Behavioral Barometer, a unique and extraordinary tool for understanding emotions and behavior, I was challenged with a word in the left hand column (the desired state of mind) of the chart. The word - Adequate: Willing to be Adequate. At that point in my life I did not see that as a positive behavior to aspire to.

30+ years later I understand the wonderful significance of being willing to be adequate: equal to the challenge, sufficient, doing the best you can at any given time. Some days, adequate is just keeping it together. Other days, adequate is being able to accomplish your "to do" list. 

When my daughter was a competitive gymnast, she was mostly successful at meets, she was on the podium gaining a medal, she won a state championship and was a consistent competitor. She knew how to win and I also wanted her to have an experience of an off day and "losing". The meet came when her scores didn't get her on the podium. Nothing worked for her that day. I asked her, "did you do your best?" She said yes. I told her that was okay and she just needed to congratulate her friends and there would be other meets. I wanted her to understand the concept of being adequate and doing the best she could on that day and move on without beating herself up. Her next meet she was on the podium again.

Being willing to be adequate is a form of self-care. Life is a challenge and your energy resources are often drained. Listen to your little voice that can help you stay balanced and attuned to what you have to give.