Under a heavy grey sky the sound of rain floods your senses. As you walk home you notice five puddles beginning to form ahead.

As you approach, you see they are quickly beginning to increase in size, to the point where you can see your entire reflection.

Standing over the puddles, you notice your reflection takes on a different image in each one.

In the first, your life appears “perfect”. You set extremely high expectations for yourself, while also noticing that you feel shame or disappointment when you fail to achieve them.

In the second, you appear as a “natural genius”. You evaluate your worth based on picking things up on the first try.

In the third, you appear “independent”. You see asking or receiving help diminishing your worth so you always reject it.

In the fourth, you appear as a “superhero”. You work long hours, living for the validation of a “Well done.”

In the fifth, you appear as an “expert”. Your nightmare is to be exposed as having a lack of knowledge or experience.

As the rain continues to fall you walk home and notice that each puddle reflects a feeling of shame and fear, rooted in a false belief about where you derive your worth and identity.

Looking to your right you see your real reflection look back at you through the glisten glass of the raindrop covered buildings.

And you realize, you, just the way you are is enough.

Smiling you realize this is a walk you take every day, so now your real reflection can serve as a daily reminder that who you really are is enough.

Photo by Daniel Seßler on Unsplash.