Inadequate

I need to improve, work harder too

This is what I feel constantly, I do

If I am average, I need to be good

If good, strive towards excellence I should

If I excel at something (I rarely feel this way)

Then I should try to attain the pinnacle one day…

You can do better, is the mantra deeply ingrained

You are not good enough as you are, is the constant refrain

That I hear- it undermines my confidence

And leads to feelings of inadequacy intense

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I do not know how to eradicate

The feeling of being inadequate

Sometimes harder I am motivated to try

At other times I could care less, I wouldn’t lie

But no matter what I do or achieve

That I am enough, I simply cannot believe

I don’t get the external validation I seek

And my internal validation machinery is weak..

*

That I need to do better, this deep-seated belief

I need to erase, comparison with myself is the thief

Of satisfaction in life, if I could accept myself as I am today

Maybe the constant feeling of inadequacy would go away…