When Is Enough, Enough?
What is enough these days? In a world inundated with plenty, it is tough to tell. We live in a time where grocery store shelves are over-stocked, where there is a fast-food chain on every corner, usually open for 24-hours a day, and where media outlets send us endless messages that we need “More! More! More!” It can be hard to imagine that there are those out there that are suffering because they have nothing when we live in a world of plenty.
It is true that there is always “more” but the more that is best sought after is the more-ness that lies within. As we are told daily that there is more to be had, we often take that message to mean that we must be in some way lacking; that what we have and who we are, is not enough. We have overstuffed our bodies with food and our minds with outer stimulation that we are left bursting at the seams, while still craving more. When will enough, be enough?
Because we have overstimulated and overfed ourselves, from food to clothes to gossip to politics to technology, we have lost touch with the feeling of what actually is “enough.” There is a stark difference between what constitutes as a serving size in American restaurants and that of our neighboring countries. “Super-sized,” is not just something we ask for at McDonald’s, rather it is now the standard, steering us even further into our comatose behavior. But it is not just our food that depicts our insatiable hunger, it is overall how we live and think about ourselves; it is laced throughout our thoughts and actions.
The idea of enough is not just for our dinner plates but also for our overall well-being. When we pause to feel, not fill, the void, often, we take that space to mean that something is wrong, as it is an unfamiliar feeling to grasp these days of plenty. It can feel vulnerable and even a touch scary. However, voids, emptiness, and spaciousness are all wondrous things. It means there is room for creativity and for real union. It means there is room for truth, noble truth, to emerge. Nothing could be more right.
At this time in history, more than ever before, we are called to look more closely at the truth, and a very meaningful question on this quest is to ask, “What is enough?” Have you had enough of the way something is done? Have you had enough in certain areas of your life and are ready to commit to something different? But more importantly, it is key to ask, do you know that you are already enough? Because you are. You are more than enough, just as you are, because you were created to be. A practice in knowing that one is enough is not just done by looking in the mirror and saying a mantra, rather it is about living your enough-ness daily through your actions, deeds, and thoughts. It is about making choices from food, to clothes, to gossip, to politics, to technology, and saying, “Enough is enough because I say so!” Enough is a choice lived and when you do so, you give it the freedom to prove its worth. It is about giving the universe the room to show you your muchness, your enough-ness.
Thus, begin playing with what is enough for you. Take the ever-so-powerful pause and see what life reveals to you. Leave a little room on the plate, leave a little time without any Internet or TV, and leave a little space just for you. Be the adventurous explorer of your own life and discover what makes you interesting, beautiful, smart, and more than enough. Namaste.