Good Enough

"The hardest part is figuring out how to let go of the parts that tell you that you aren't good enough. Because everyone always feels like they aren't good enough. That feeling, the one that holds you back, that is how all the people around you feel too. Cut that feeling out and stop letting it hold you back."

Noah rolled his eyes at the self-help non-sense that was playing throughout the shop. It's not that he thought the advice was completely wrong, but he doubted that everyone always feels like that. In fact, he knew there were times he had felt good enough.

"The hardest part is to ignore the part that says I'm not good enough and act," Noah said to himself. "I bet Captain America never feels like he's not good enough."

"I'll bet Cap felt like he let people down and that he wasn't good enough plenty of times," said a stranger with blond hair, blue eyes, and a smile. "He lost men, good men, and that means he felt like he messed up too. But he got up and focused on what he could do to keep from losing more men. Because that's what you do, when you feel like you aren't good enough. You do the best you can."

"Steve, are you coming?" a dark haired man asked.

"I'll be there in a minute," Steve said. "Tell Tony that his project can wait an extra five minutes, Bruce."

Bruce rolled his eyes but turned and left to go relay the message.

Steve turned back to Noah and asked, "Does that help you any?"

Noah replied, "Yeah, thanks. Hey, how did you know all that about Captain America?"

Steve just smiled and shook his head. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you, kid."

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I've been spending a bit too much time reading Avengers fan fiction, I think.

I don't know that we all feel like we aren't good enough all the time, but I know we all feel that at least part of the time. And we need to do better teaching our kids that even if they make mistakes, they are still good enough.