air traffic.

When I was younger, my dad would take my three siblings and me down to the outskirts of the Minneapolis airport. We would drive through the gravel right up to the tall barbed wire fence, get out of the car, and walk through the untrimmed grass to wrap our little fingers around the warm twisted metal of the fence, peering through it. We waited then, until we saw a tiny airplane in the distance of the sky, coming closer and closer. Then all of a sudden it’d be right in front of my eyes, heading toward the stretch of cemented path for landing, and I'd hear my dad yelling over the noise of the plane’s engine, “Put your nose down, buddy!” All four of us kids would start screaming, “Put your nose down, buddy!” as loud as our little lungs were capable, making sure that airplane knew to get its nose down and land! We’d repeat this for every incoming airplane until our voices were rough and naptime was long overdue. Hugging that wire fence, I truly felt that I had an impact in ensuring the safety of everyone inside, as well as the beautifully enormous airplane itself. I was responsible for getting it to touch down at the exact moment it was supposed to. It was up to me.

Sometimes we feel as though we are not “enough.” We’re not fast enough, we’re not intelligent enough, we’re not attractive enough, if only. I fear inadequacy. I need to matter; I need to be “enough.”

If everyone had the same talents or attributes, yours wouldn’t be unique. Because we’re all different, nobody is everything. Because nobody is everything, nobody is enough. Right? That’s the logical conclusion to the compiling of doubts we all have. But when you look at it that way, you know it’s wrong.

If you are not adequate in the eyes of one person, you are more than adequate in the eyes of another. So you haven’t made it to a D1 basketball team on a full scholarship? No matter where you play, your mom is always going to admire you for working hard as a collegiate athlete. So you studied for weeks and still didn’t get an A on your physics exam? Well I personally admire you for studying physics for that long. It’s not fun.

It frustrates me to talk to people who just don’t believe they are enough, because I ALWAYS see enough. It’s hard to get someone to climb over his or her own barriers. It’s up to you to believe you’re here for a reason.

I mean, if the responsibility of the Minneapolis air traffic control was completely in my hands, I think you can agree that you too, matter.