To Everything A Season: May There Be Enough

I'm a subscriber to this blog and often blessed by ideas found in it. The message in this post really resonates with me at this point in my life ~

The Idea of Enoughness

Posted: 06 Jan 2011 07:53 AM PST

Post written by Corey Allan.

I've been uncomfortable.

There's been an unsettling feeling in my gut.

It was in my life for a while and I couldn't put my finger on what was causing it.

Now, it wasn't an overwhelming feeling of discontent or a sense that something bad was about to happen or even the insane amount of food I consumed throughout the Holidays (although that created discomfort all its own).

It was simply a nagging feeling that something was just off.

Something wasn't aligning right.

Then the answer finally came to me a couple of days after Christmas when I took my kids out to spend some of their Christmas money from grandma.

I made the mistake of taking them to the toy abyss that is Toys R Us. While their eyes lit up at all the choices before them and their pockets heated up from the money burning to get out – what stood out to me was all the other people doing the same thing as I.

A bit of back story:

I'm a fan of simplicity and minimalism. I read Joshua Becker, Everett Bogue, Adam Baker, Leo Babauta, and Tammy Strobel. And my wife and I have worked to keep our home, our marriage, and our family simple.

While I was home with my family, my father and I got into a discussion about the latest books we've either read or are reading. One of the greatest joys of my relationship with my dad is sharing books and thoughts from books we like with each other.

As our discussion progressed, my dad brought up this idea of "enoughness." He even mentioned that several professors had met and kicked around the idea of creating a class on this idea.

Upon returning home I began reading The 100 Thing Challenge by Dave Bruno (look for an upcoming interview with Dave in a future post).

Back to our story:

Standing in the isles of mountains of toys, the nagging feeling became clear.

I was surrounded by a never ending environment aimed at consuming. A world that teaches scarcity. The trouble with scarcity is that you operate under the principle that resources are limited and that we can never truly have enough. It's like we'd better work as hard as we can to ensure that we don't lose out to someone else.

Unfortunately, this is the default mode of operation for many people.

The challenge is to be self-aware and rise above it.

In order to become self-aware, it helps to know exactly what enoughness looks like for you. How much do you really need to a) meet your basic needs, and b) do the things you enjoy?

Have you ever struggled with enoughness?

On the flip side, have you experienced the satisfaction of enough?

The pure, simple pleasure of having all you need and the sweet sense of contentment?

When you learn how to be content, you increase your capacity to enjoy.

To the naked, untrained eye, it appears that more consumption would increase contentment but this is not the case at all. The real answer is enoughness; adequate provisions to live in modest comfort.

All we need is … enough.

Living with this idea of enoughness means you are consuming to meet your basic needs without limiting your capacity to enjoy.

Your capacity for enjoyment can grow at all times.

One of the best ways to increase your capacity for enjoyment is through the act of creating. When you make something, write something, build something, or imagine a new idea, you add value to the world.

And as you create more, you perfect your craftsmanship, further increasing your capacity to enjoy!

Start stupid small.

Both you, and I, and the world, are better off with enoughness.

So, what can you create to add value to the world today?