“If you wait until you have enough then you will never have enough” – Thich Nhat Hanh
Our culture often drives us in the direction of consumption. It sells us concepts like bigger is best, newer is required and more is better. What many of us have to come to realise is that this isn’t always so. Some of us have even decided to leave more behind and focus on enough instead.
Enough is not a word that gets much attention. It’s not where advertisers can make a sale. However, enough has a purity and beauty of its own.
As we embark on our own journeys to discover and uncover what enough means for us, something wonderful starts to happen. We let go of our desire to chase more than we need. We discover a sense of freedom and space that may have been missing. We feel lighter.
A cascade of positive changes can start to manifest:
Our lives become less cluttered.
Our days become less busy.
Life becomes simpler.
White space and time for reflection replaces overworked and over-committed diaries.
We have room to breathe. Space to think.
We reconnect with our ability to disconnect.
We forget comparisons and keeping up with keeping up.
We have time for the people that matter most.
We have time for the tasks that support our passion projects.
The quality of life increases as we let go of needing to constantly expand.
We let go of false needs.
We embrace who we truly are, we uncover what we truly need.
Lessons in Haiku
I’m a lover of the Japanese poetic form, haiku. Haiku at its best is short, simple and powerful. There is lots of space due to constraints in structure, an economy of words. There is no room for excess. The words that are on the page have to earn their place.
We can embrace much of this philosophy in our own lives by understanding many of us already have enough. In fact, we likely have too much.
More doesn’t always equate to better/happier/more fulfilled. Often, it can take us in the completely opposite direction.
We’re all on our own journeys of discovery and, along the way, we can learn an important lesson. Enough is enough and there’s a beauty and clarity in that all by itself.
Note: This is a reworked and refreshed piece from a post originally shared on my website.
Carl writes short books full of big ideas. He is also the proud owner of Frictionless Living which is focused on helping readers live simpler, finding focus and clarity in distracted times.