As I sit here listening to Willie Nelson and Norah Jones singing “Baby It’s Cold” outside, I find myself reflecting on how lucky I am. Very.
Why just the other day I found out I’m about to come into a windfall, admittedly small, but still something I hadn’t expected. My mind ranged over a couple of things I’d been meaning to take care of and I found that with the extra cash I could do one – not both. Isn’t it amazing how there’s never enough?
The truth is that this was just the right amount to do something for myself, and then share a little with my son and daughter. Just enough. But we are so conditioned to always be searching for the amount of money that will meet all our needs, and then all our wants, and then all our conceivable wants and needs into eternity!
Never enough. It never ends – the need for more and more – if you don’t stop it yourself. I think it’s in our DNA to collect, hoard and save, as a hedge against the future and to comfort ourselves that nothing could ever go wrong, because we have enough.
The truth is that there really is never enough to save us from poverty of life or spirit no matter what. There are still earthquakes, floods, tornados, heart attacks, aneurysms, Bernie Madoff, Wall Street crashes and all manner of thieves to steal away your safety nets.
There is only way true way for what you have to be enough. You must declare it so and mean it. You have to take stock and look around you and say, “I have enough for today and that may be all the time I have anyway. I’ll worry about tomorrow - tomorrow.”
I’m not saying you don’t responsibly plan for the future, just that you don’t let the future take you over. Enjoy what there is today – a downpour, jazz music filling your little space from your small (but good enough) radio, an onion bagel. Let the warmth of fuzzy socks soak into your soul and convince you that in the precious moment – that’s all you really need. Enough is enough.
