You. Are. Enough.

Hello and welcome to another Monday, new week, and new post!

And while I will be the first to tell you that I love the heat and sun of Summer, I am quite anxious and excited to experience the cooler temperatures that the Fall season brings us.

As well as everything pumpkin…I mean DUH.

It’s that time again for pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin carving, pumpkin pie, etc.

Would you believe that I even found pumpkin spice whole milk and pumpkin spice butter at the grocery store?!

What will they think of next??

I have still yet to see pumpkin spice body lotion…

…just saying.

Anyhoo, let’s get on with this week’s post.

Post #185 to be exact!

You. Are. Enough.

Read that again.

YOU. ARE. ENOUGH.

In a society and world where there is so much dark shit happening on the daily, it can be hard to remember the entity of checking in on others let alone keeping all of the burdens we carry ourselves together.

Ever since the pandemic, mental health has become an entity pushed to the forefront of our lives.

But as a society we need to make sure we are doing better and talking about it.

Yesterday, after our faith community’s church service, I grabbed a cup of coffee in my more self love mug and sat down in Pastor Angie’s office.

And she began to cry.

Tears flowing from her eyes started to make my own eyes water.

It was a raw moment.

It was a beautiful moment to be able to experience with her.

A moment that allowed me to realize that people—even Pastors—are not immune to burn out, can be stretched beyond one’s own capacity and limits, and that the importance of needing to practice self-care is very real.

Everyone is familiar to the term of “burn out.” We have all experienced it. It is no stranger to us, especially today.

We all know what it means to be stretched beyond our limits.

In the year 2022, it seems that we often forget to practice the entities of checking in on others in our lives to make sure they are ok and letting them know they are loved.

It also seems that we often forget to practice the importance of self-care.

After this moment with Pastor Angie, I headed home to have lunch with my parents and saw that a college friend of mine that I got to enjoy being in Singing Lions with at Penn State had just released a new original song she wrote entitled “Am I Enough?”

I listened to the lyrics and beautiful tune and felt goosebumps because it aligned perfectly with everything that I had just experienced with Pastor Angie.

Many of you know, but I am always constantly busy. I balance a full-time job, two part-time jobs, and music director and church council president titles at church.

And intertwined with all of this, I receive multiple text messages and emails on the daily that require responses which I try incredibly hard to address as quickly as possible.

This means that the cleanliness of my home might go awry at times, my grocery runs might be more sporadic than normal, or that my car might not be spotless.

But, at the end of the day, I know how to practice self-care for myself in making sure that I’m taking time to disconnect, recharge, and fill up the tanks of Mr. Sunshine with energy.

Take time for yourself.

Find the self-care routine that works for you.

Check in on the others in your life to make sure they are doing ok.

Watch your favorite TV show cuddles with a blanket or squeezing a pillow, turn your phone on DND for silence from the outside word, read a book, color, take a walk around the block, go on a hike, scream at the top of your lungs in a car drive through the countryside, dance to your favorite song, or make the decision to eat the ice cream right from the container.

The shit of the world isn’t going any time soon.

But always remember…

YOU. ARE. ENOUGH.

Sprinkle sunshine always,

JP!