There Is No Track

“Be content with what you have, rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.”

Lao Tsu -- Chinese philosopher & co-founder of Taoism


“I’ve got to get back on track!” we say to ourselves. “The other day was really good – I ate healthy food, I got a lot done, I was kind to myself and my loved ones, I felt like things were really coming together. But today, I’m struggling to get back on that special and important track.”

Gosh, do I know that conversation!

But does it serve us? Striving to get back on track sets us up to look at all the things we didn’t do – or didn’t do perfectly. It makes most days and most efforts “not good enough” because they don’t measure up to that one great day when we found the track and managed to stay on it.

We’re not going to be outrageously productive, incredibly sweet and soulfully self-affirming every day. We’re just not. We know this from past experience. So, let’s accept the truth and demolish the track.

If there is no track, then today is just a day. There is no shining example of perfection. Whatever happens today is good enough.

I realize that seeing today as enough is a stretch for recovering track-seekers. So let’s begin by just disengaging from the myth of the track. There truly is no track to get back on. Can you agree with me on that? Can you agree that perfection is an unattainable ideal that leads us to feel “not good enough?”

Today is just a day and I have found that the more I let go of the need to be perfect, the more I accept myself – and love myself – even on the days when reality TV and Facebook are my most “perfect” accomplishments. And the more I accept and forgive myself for watching “The Lottery Changed My Life,” the less compelling these lower-value activities are.

The message always seems to be the same. The more we love and accept ourselves, the easier life becomes.

Here’s the step toward self-love I’m inviting you to take this week: Let go of the need to be perfect – even just a little – and start to remind yourself that you are good enough. What you did today is good enough. There is no track to get back to. You, in your vulnerable, goofy, adorably imperfect way, are enough.

Say it: I am enough. Remind yourself all day long.

Soon you’ll be regarding yourself with more compassion and love…and seeing the perfection that was there all along.