You're enough, put down the measuring stick
Earlier this month, veteran actress Demi Moore won a Golden Globe for best actress in "The Substance," a campy horror flick. What was remarkable about her win is it’s the first award she’s ever received in a career that’s spanned over four decades. She was once the highest-paid female actor in the business. "St. Elmo’s Fire," "Ghost," "A Few Good Men," "The Juror " ... all memorable movies I watched and enjoyed. By most people's standards, she's successful.
I saw a clip of her Golden Globes acceptance speech, in all its raw authenticity, and was moved by the universal relatability of her words.
She thanked “those who stood by me, especially the people who believed in me when I haven’t believed in myself. And I'll just leave you with one thing that I think this movie is imparting. In those moments when we don't think we're smart enough, we're pretty enough, we're skinny enough, we're successful enough or basically just not enough. I had a woman once say to me, 'Just know you will never be enough, but you can know the value of your worth if you just put down the measuring stick.' And so today, I celebrate this as a marker of my wholeness and of the love that is driving me and for the gift of doing something I love and being reminded that I do belong.”
Demi nails it. I’m reasonably sure we’ve all experienced the feeling that we’re not enough at one or more points in our lives. I have. While I may not use the “measuring stick” quite as often in this season of my life, I still have one.
So women, girls, men and boys, take these words into the new year. Put down the measuring stick and just celebrate what you love to do and let passion drive your journey. You're worth it.
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Happy birthday today to Eric English, Analisa Raynor, Nora Horn, Larry Spencer, Angie Phillips, Glen Abbott and Peggy Brothers. Tomorrow, Gordon Conger, Chelsea Dickinson, Sadie Lynn Fisher, Daryl Gankema, Joy Lynch, Paul Lash and Jamie Crawford have their cake and eat it, too. On Friday, Sue Myers, Marion Richardson, Jody Azevedo, Tina Nowoj, Kylie Frank, Josh Adams, Cindy Shepperd, May Lynn Hammon, Danelle Reagan, Jillian-Kate Scott and Acaja-Lyn Scot blow out the candles. Rod Heitstuman, Jerrilou Shofner, Shauna Moore, Jonathan Madrid, Marlene Waddell, Lizzie Nowoj (30!), Jadrian Hammon (40!), Pearl Robertson, Athena Kinsry (50!), Michaelle Sande, Mike Erin, Sherry Farmer and Rick Demmig mark their special day Saturday. On Sunday, Christa Hazel, Alex Jimenez, Rosemary Goodlander, Kali Snider Johnson, Jeff Hall, Linda Hall, Austin Chadderdon, Nicholle Sheppard, David Townsend, Julie Kirking, Russell Larson and Mr. and Mrs. Smith do the birthday dance. Jeff and Candace Smith have no excuse for missing each other’s birthday since they share the date. On Monday, Mike Hendricks and Khloe Peacock (21!) will celebrate. Jenni Grimmett, Valerie Wilcox, Hope Newman, Lauren Adair, John Andres and Chad Oakland will wear their party hats Jan. 28.
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Kerri Rankin Thoreson is a member of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists and the former publisher of the Post Falls Tribune. Main Street appears every Wednesday in The Press and Kerri can be contacted on Facebook or via email thoreson.kerri@gmail.com.