The lie of worthlessness is not a phrase—it’s a parasite. It crawls in early, gnawing at the marrow, drinking from your silence until its voice becomes indistinguishable from your own. I’m not good enough. Not a thought. A gospel. Whispered again and again until it feels etched into bone. This is how the lie survives: repetition as baptism, corrosion disguised as truth.
Escaping it isn’t about pretending it never lived inside you. Denial is just another mask. The voice comes, always. The shift begins when you name it for what it is: not oracle, not protector, but a scavenger. When it hisses, you are not enough, you do not bow. You answer. Not with silence, but with fire: I hear you. You are not me. You do not get the final word.
Reframing is not affirmation—it’s exorcism. Saying “I am good enough” is rebellion against the oldest curse in your bloodline. It’s seizing the scalpel from the hand that would carve you hollow, and cutting the word ENOUGH into your own skin. Not to wound, but to mark the truth that was always yours.
Worth is not a prize you stumble toward after proving, healing, surviving. Worth is not a crown for the flawless. Worth is breath. Worth is pulse. Worth is the body you’ve already dragged through fire.
The lie of worthlessness will keep returning, resurrected in shadows, wearing every name—Fear, Insecurity, Overwhelm. But the truth is quieter, harder to destroy. It waits beneath the rubble, in the blood, in the lungs.
I want to echo the sentiment you shared at the end to all of us still hearing that lie inside our heads. You were always enough. Even when you could not believe it. Even when you did not want to be.
Wow. Thank you for your perspective. I can see this one resonates with you deeply as well. I appreciate your words and you taking the time to read. Thank you for your sentiment at the end. ❤️🩹
"Your mind can be your greatest asset or your biggest enemy, it’s up to you to decide" yes! Lesson 2 is so important and it's something I talk to my mentees about a lot of the time. It shows up in the strangest of places from "I can't post this on LinkedIn" to "I can't charge this price" all because of that voice inside your mind saying you're not good enough. Great article Alexa 🧡
Loved Inside Out. Took my kids to see it. It actually had a huge impact on my son, who is on the Autism Spectrum. Having those core emotions be actual characters helped him understand so much! Only took myself 50 yrs to realize I am good enough (well, 50 yrs and a yr’s worth of weekly therapy sessions) and I can honestly say it’s made a massive difference in so much of my life.
Me too!!! That’s so beautiful. I’m so proud of you and this is so major. It’s never too late to believe in yourself and decide you’re good enough. You are an inspiration to so many!
I wanted to be an inspiration to my kids. In the years they were young, I was trapped in survival mode. I worried I harmed them. I encourage them to get therapy, and to heal themselves, to undo anything my own unhealed self may have caused, so they don’t pass that on to any kids they might have.
totally resonated! Love this so much ❤️ Just when i was doubting myself, you appeared like an angle and just smacked me in the face 😃 Thanks for that ✨
I’m so grateful you’re here thank you so much, it means the world. I’ll be your angel today!! Let’s say I lightly love tapped you back into flow. Thank you for resonating and reading! ❤️
I hope this reminder reaches more people. Honestly, sometimes I don't think we realize how much certain words can affect us. And in reality, what we need is to be confident and to have someone to pat us on the shoulder and say "Hey, you're doing it. And you're enough"
Means so much to me that you took the time to read it. I’m so glad it was here for you at the right time!!! I needed to write it (and read it) at this exact moment too. ❤️🩹
Such a seemingly simple lesson but … oh so difficult to put into practice. Thank you for the reminder today and I love that with a simple twist of one word we can make it a positive affirmation!
Writing is the only way I can translate the chaos in my brain into sentences. When I talk, it’s all basically tangled threads, me forgetting where I was in a point, and stories that live forever in the middle with what seems like endless development
(like they forgot where they were going, too 🥴)
Also, I’ll be rewatching this now. Thanks for the unintentional homework!!!
Hello Alexa, you really initiated a debate to have. Thank you for this opportunity.
My personal perspective, I might be wrong, is that life is not a debate between good and bad - it never was. It doesn’t need a definition, because definitions belong to things, and life is not a “thing.”
It is not a choice either. Living is the choice - a choice we make every day, and too often blame on life itself.
Life wasn’t created by us. It simply is.
But how we live - that is the part we do create.
We are the architects of living: the designers of meaning, the builders of purpose, the authors of experience.
Let's keep the conversation going amongst Substackers - we walk together and explore more together to have answers for living - living with humility, dignity, grace and gratitude. Life will love it.
I have joined you to keep the dialogue alive. Please feel free to join me for free at salmizindagi.substack.com
Please don't forget to check ✔️ out my latest essays and Notes - you find my decades professional and personal experience across five continents talking and asking me to learn more about live to learn and learn to live with love.
i can hear the intro piano tune and i already miss her lol
I know me too
Glad I found this today, definitely needed the reminder that I’m good enough. Loved your post :)
You are good enough!!!! Thank you for reading beautiful.
The lie of worthlessness is not a phrase—it’s a parasite. It crawls in early, gnawing at the marrow, drinking from your silence until its voice becomes indistinguishable from your own. I’m not good enough. Not a thought. A gospel. Whispered again and again until it feels etched into bone. This is how the lie survives: repetition as baptism, corrosion disguised as truth.
Escaping it isn’t about pretending it never lived inside you. Denial is just another mask. The voice comes, always. The shift begins when you name it for what it is: not oracle, not protector, but a scavenger. When it hisses, you are not enough, you do not bow. You answer. Not with silence, but with fire: I hear you. You are not me. You do not get the final word.
Reframing is not affirmation—it’s exorcism. Saying “I am good enough” is rebellion against the oldest curse in your bloodline. It’s seizing the scalpel from the hand that would carve you hollow, and cutting the word ENOUGH into your own skin. Not to wound, but to mark the truth that was always yours.
Worth is not a prize you stumble toward after proving, healing, surviving. Worth is not a crown for the flawless. Worth is breath. Worth is pulse. Worth is the body you’ve already dragged through fire.
The lie of worthlessness will keep returning, resurrected in shadows, wearing every name—Fear, Insecurity, Overwhelm. But the truth is quieter, harder to destroy. It waits beneath the rubble, in the blood, in the lungs.
I want to echo the sentiment you shared at the end to all of us still hearing that lie inside our heads. You were always enough. Even when you could not believe it. Even when you did not want to be.
Wow. Thank you for your perspective. I can see this one resonates with you deeply as well. I appreciate your words and you taking the time to read. Thank you for your sentiment at the end. ❤️🩹
It resonated a lot!
And thank you for sharing your post with us today!
Thank you so much for reading!
Needed this today. The world is tough enough already without us beating ourselves down all the time. Thanks 🙂
I’m so grateful you’re here! Makes me so happy to hear that you resonated and it helped in some way. I totally agree. ❤️🩹
"Your mind can be your greatest asset or your biggest enemy, it’s up to you to decide" yes! Lesson 2 is so important and it's something I talk to my mentees about a lot of the time. It shows up in the strangest of places from "I can't post this on LinkedIn" to "I can't charge this price" all because of that voice inside your mind saying you're not good enough. Great article Alexa 🧡
Right!! Our mind is so powerful. Thank you for reading, means the world.
Loved Inside Out. Took my kids to see it. It actually had a huge impact on my son, who is on the Autism Spectrum. Having those core emotions be actual characters helped him understand so much! Only took myself 50 yrs to realize I am good enough (well, 50 yrs and a yr’s worth of weekly therapy sessions) and I can honestly say it’s made a massive difference in so much of my life.
Me too!!! That’s so beautiful. I’m so proud of you and this is so major. It’s never too late to believe in yourself and decide you’re good enough. You are an inspiration to so many!
I wanted to be an inspiration to my kids. In the years they were young, I was trapped in survival mode. I worried I harmed them. I encourage them to get therapy, and to heal themselves, to undo anything my own unhealed self may have caused, so they don’t pass that on to any kids they might have.
This is such an astute level of love and awareness, I am so proud of you and this is truly beautiful. We need more people in the world like you!!
Aww, thank you! I really just don’t want anyone to ever feel the way I did!!! No one deserves that ❤️
totally resonated! Love this so much ❤️ Just when i was doubting myself, you appeared like an angle and just smacked me in the face 😃 Thanks for that ✨
I’m so grateful you’re here thank you so much, it means the world. I’ll be your angel today!! Let’s say I lightly love tapped you back into flow. Thank you for resonating and reading! ❤️
I hope this reminder reaches more people. Honestly, sometimes I don't think we realize how much certain words can affect us. And in reality, what we need is to be confident and to have someone to pat us on the shoulder and say "Hey, you're doing it. And you're enough"
Thank you so so so much. I agree 200000 percent. Thank you for being here. ❤️🩹
I love this one!! needed to read this at this exact moment
Means so much to me that you took the time to read it. I’m so glad it was here for you at the right time!!! I needed to write it (and read it) at this exact moment too. ❤️🩹
❤️❤️❤️
Love u!!!!! Morning pages!!
Such a seemingly simple lesson but … oh so difficult to put into practice. Thank you for the reminder today and I love that with a simple twist of one word we can make it a positive affirmation!
Thank you so much for reading. It means the world! It really is so simple yet so difficult. One little twist !!!!!!
Ugggh. Felt this line:
“I HAVE A POINT, I PROMISE.”
That’s me, to basically everyone. 🤣🤣
Writing is the only way I can translate the chaos in my brain into sentences. When I talk, it’s all basically tangled threads, me forgetting where I was in a point, and stories that live forever in the middle with what seems like endless development
(like they forgot where they were going, too 🥴)
Also, I’ll be rewatching this now. Thanks for the unintentional homework!!!
❣️🤪❣️
this was one of the best articles I've ever read<3
Loved reading this
Hello Alexa, you really initiated a debate to have. Thank you for this opportunity.
My personal perspective, I might be wrong, is that life is not a debate between good and bad - it never was. It doesn’t need a definition, because definitions belong to things, and life is not a “thing.”
It is not a choice either. Living is the choice - a choice we make every day, and too often blame on life itself.
Life wasn’t created by us. It simply is.
But how we live - that is the part we do create.
We are the architects of living: the designers of meaning, the builders of purpose, the authors of experience.
Let's keep the conversation going amongst Substackers - we walk together and explore more together to have answers for living - living with humility, dignity, grace and gratitude. Life will love it.
I have joined you to keep the dialogue alive. Please feel free to join me for free at salmizindagi.substack.com
Please don't forget to check ✔️ out my latest essays and Notes - you find my decades professional and personal experience across five continents talking and asking me to learn more about live to learn and learn to live with love.
Thank you.
Thank you so so so much. ❤️🩹