Puns are the best! Have you heard the one about noodles!? “What do you call a fake noodle? AN IMPASTA!” That one gets me every time! I literally laughed as I typed it, although I don’t know who should receive appropriate credit for its cleverness.

It’s very funny…unless, of course, you are feeling like an ‘impasta’.

One time I was sitting in a room full of professionals, filling in for my employer who told me to keep great notes. Everyone in the room introduced themselves, followed by titles and credentials that I would, no doubt, need to Google later. By the time the room turned to face me, I felt like a bowl of ramen noodles lost in a buffet of linguine carbonara and cavatappi!

I felt like a fake, a phony, and that all those people knew I didn’t belong there. But I was there – not because I wandered into the wrong room and decided to act cool, but because my employer trusted me enough to place me there on her behalf.

In recognition of my situation, I did what I was raised to do. I introduced myself. “I am Autumn Smith and I am here to represent…” I told the unapologetic truth including my title, my responsibilities and so forth.

Regardless of where you are, it’s normal and valid to feel like you’re in over your head sometimes or like you don’t belong. I feel those things often. Feelings of inadequacy plague us all from time to time and that’s okay. You’re not broken. None of us are broken. We just get stuck every now and then.

It’s important to realize and know who you really are and what you value. In John 21:21-22: “… When Peter saw him, he asked, “Lord, what about him?” Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain until I return, what is that to you? You follow Me!” In other words, don’t worry about him, YOU follow me.

Stop looking around and trying to imitate others who are in your world. And stop judging yourself based upon their lives. What is that to you? YOU have your own ambitions, your own struggles and your own story. And for the record, people love ramen noodles.