Ever since I was young, I chased after the elusive title of “good enough.” No one asked me to do this; I undertook this great quest under my own dubious suggestion. It just seemed to be the natural thing to do when I was already so close to the endpoint; at this point, I had already easily assumed the role of “good kid.” I excelled in school. I had friends. I greatly feared the mighty power of punishment that my teachers yielded. Despite this, a thought still lingered, whispering that I still disappointed the people around me. I told myself that to be “good enough” for them would require just a little more effort. The complicating factor was that there was no rubric that defined what actions constituted reaching the state of “good enough.” This ambiguity led me to reach for the natural conclusion: if you never fail, you will never reach the point in which you lose all claim to being “good enough.” So I set out to be perfect. From this point on, every incorrectly answered question or awkward social situation seemed to devastate all that I had worked for. There were an embarrassingly high number of instances in which I would miss a few answers on our multiplication table tests and then …show more content…
While things in the realm of academics came fairly naturally to me, everything about my body and mind reacted hostilely to dance’s challenges. I had no flexibility, strength, endurance, short-term memory, or love of the limelight. As I watched my more naturally talented peers literally leap in front of me, I couldn’t help but to feel anything but “good enough.” Forget occasionally crying in the bathroom at school, at dance I felt every ounce of confidence I had maintained seep away. I gave up completely, resigning myself to hide in the back of the class and attempt to claim as little of my teachers’ attention as possible. I would do anything just to hold on to my remaining claim to