You Are Enough

#ChooseToChallenge

Today is International Women’s Day, a global holiday celebrated annually to commemorate the cultural, political, and socioeconomic achievements of women. It’s a day powered by the collective efforts of all women. This year’s theme, #ChooseToChallenge highlights the fact that a challenged world is an alert world and that from challenge comes change. That said, I challenged myself to write a note to my younger self and share it with you here.

 Dear Me,

You are enough.

The world will tell you that you’re not enough. It will tell you that you can always do better, you should always try harder. It will say in a million ways that you’re not the smartest, not the most driven, not the quickest. You’ll spend so much time trying to prove yourself and it will be exhausting. You’ll see things differently when you focus on how amazing you are rather than looking for where you feel that you’re lacking.

You are enough.

First, you’re going to be okay. You will make it through – through this, through everything. It won’t always seem that way, but if you choose happiness, if you choose positivity, if you choose your own path, you’ll be okay.

You are enough.

Things don’t always have to be hard. You do not always have to prove yourself. No matter how terrible things seem, it won’t be the end of everything. There’s always a new day, a new chapter, the turn of a page.

You are enough.

Own your own path. You’ll hear so many voices telling you who you should be, what you should be doing. But embrace each moment as your own. Things will change. Change is constant. Your life will change, your friendships will change, your circumstances will change. So, live each moment and breathe each breath. Don’t wish away today because the path will wind away from this moment and onto the next and what seemed to loom so large will look so small in the rear-view mirror.

You are enough.

When life throws you down – and it will – consider it a gift to get back up and face down the next challenge. You will turn dark into light. And I promise that, in hindsight, things will be the way they were meant to be. Realize that the only thing within your control is how you choose to react to something. Choose happiness, choose positivity, choose peace.

You are enough.

Don’t take yourself too seriously. Laugh a lot. Enjoy the chocolate. Drink the wine. Take the trip. Be silly, by joyful. See the world and be open to other cultures. Realize that life is a lesson every day and learn in each moment.

Don’t apologize for who you are. Your path is your own and no one else’s.  

You are enough.

Love, Andrea

I wish my younger self could have read this and believed it. Readers, what would you write to your younger self?

Andrea Heuston, founder and CEO of Artitudes Design has been in the tech industry for over 30 years. Her company, Artitudes Design, is a full-service creative services and experiential design firm that specializes in connecting messages to audiences in a visually impactful way. Andrea is a respected business leader and entrepreneur who is sought after as a board member and a Keynote speaker. She passionately contributes to several nonprofit organizations and has been a prolific voice on women’s and leadership topics in the workforce. In 2020, she started her own podcast “The Lead Like a Woman Show” focusing on empowering women leaders to empower others through topical discussions and interviews with female leaders. She is passionate about helping to close the gender gap for women in business. Watch for her new book, Stronger on the Other Side in April of 2021!