A friend declared his goal for 2020 to be believing that he is enough. Perhaps declare is too presumptuous a verb. There was a hint of trepidation in the mix. The reaction from a string of people was unfettered affirmation, that he already was enough, and more.
To present the facts in such an assertion:
He holds a graduate degree from a prestigious institute.
He married his high school sweetheart and has three great kids.
He shared the stage with Brian Wilson and Al Jardine as a guest singer.
His wit is spot on.
But all evidence aside, I know he is enough because he told me so. Back when he was four years old. Not in those words precisely, because little kids don't speak enoughness. But if you ask "Are you good at stuff?" they will announce "heck yeah", or better still they will show you.
Well, I exaggerate. I did not technically ask him back in pre kindergarten, but I have been buds with enough four year olds to be sure he would have answered definitively.
What happens between learning to tie your red sneakers and middle age, to make us forget what we were once confident about?
The aforementioned list, convincing as it may be, is limited to what my friend has more than what he is. But what barometer has yet been invented to calibrate a person's worth? We have SAT's and competency tests, job interviews, and end of the year assessments. But do any of those clumsy metrics touch the heart of the matter? As helpful as they are in raising your net worth, most of those embellishments to your personhood stay on this side of the grave.
For an answer I will once again bow to the wisdom of a four year old. If I could go back in time and place my friend in a line up of a hundred men in all manner of life's conditions, and ask his son to run up to his favorite one.... there would be no questions left about not being enough.
