Worthy Brain

Lisa Feldman Barrett writes, “An emotion is your brain’s creation of what your bodily sensations mean, in relation to what is going on around you in the world,” (Barrett, L. 2017). In other words, when you feel less than worthy or unworthy, that incredible brain of yours actually makes up a story to explain the knot in your stomach, the tightness in your chest and other less than pleasant sensations.

And here’s the kicker, if our brain makes up feelings of unworthiness, we have the ability to do a reverse course on those emotions. Rather than putting others on a pedestal and diminishing ourselves, we can recognize, explore and acknowledge our common humanity. All humans feel pain, shame, sadness, joy, loneliness, joy, etc. And studies show that nurturing gratitude for our common humanity cultivates compassion for ourselves, as well as others. In other words, we are all in the same boat.

The next time you feel ‘less than,’ remind yourself that feeling different or less than others makes you human. Everyone experiences pain, loss, loneliness, sadness and rejection at some point. Be kind to yourself and others. Life is challenging for all of us at some point. If you keep looking, you will find your community. When you find it, you will appreciate it even more, having gone through the suffering.