In our society the way it is constructed today, it seems that we never have enough and that we are in a constant search for more. And this really can apply to anything and everything, be it money, love, possessions, time, etc.
When having more leaves you empty, you discover true happiness lies in enough!
Bob Perks
In a previous essay entitled, Our Obsession with ‘MORE’, we explored the topic of always chasing more in life. This is a topic that I feel can be discussed from many angles, and it is something that I teach about regularly, as most people do not realize the inner peace that comes from stopping that vicious cycle of chasing or needing more and understanding when there is enough.
Enough in fact, is not that easy to get to. The homeless man on the street can have enough. The corporate CEO that owns 4 companies can have enough. Yet at the same time, both of them can also be chasing more. It all just depends on what is within us that is driving our decisions. Is it your Ego or your Higher Self?
The Ego is never satisfied with enough. Your Higher Self is always at peace with enough.
Today, I want to share with you a passage, which I hope you can use as a personal reflection. I am not sure who the author is, but it is based on a book by Bob Perks called “I Wish You Enough“. Perhaps you have heard it before, perhaps you haven’t.
Regardless, I invite you to read it all (even if again), read it slowly, let the words really sink in, so that you can decide for yourself what they are awakening you to.
Are you constantly chasing more? Do you know how to find enough? And what kind of balance is your life in today?
I Wish You Enough
Recently I overheard a mother and daughter in their last moments together at the airport. They had announced the departure.
Standing near the security gate, they hugged and the mother said, ‘I love you and I wish you enough’.
The daughter replied, ‘Mom, our life together has been more than enough. Your love is all I ever needed. I wish you enough, too, Mom’.
They kissed and the daughter left. The mother walked over to the window where I was seated. Standing there I could see she wanted and needed to cry. I tried not to intrude on her privacy but she welcomed me in by asking, ‘Did you ever say good-bye to someone knowing it would be forever?’.
Yes, I have,’ I replied. ‘Forgive me for asking, but why is this a forever good-bye?’.
‘I am old and she lives so far away. I have challenges ahead and the reality is – the next trip back will be for my funeral,’ she said.
‘When you were saying good-bye, I heard you say, ‘I wish you enough’. May I ask what that means?’.
She began to smile. ‘That’s a wish that has been handed down from other generations. My parents used to say it to everyone’. She paused a moment and looked up as if trying to remember it in detail and she smiled even more. ‘When we said, ‘ I wish you enough’, we were wanting the other person to have a life filled with just enough good things to sustain them’. Then turning toward me, she shared the following as if she were reciting it from memory.
I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright no matter how gray the day may appear.
I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun even more.
I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive and everlasting.
I wish you enough pain so that even the smallest of joys in life may appear bigger.
I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.
I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.
I wish you enough hellos to get you through the final good-bye.
She then began to cry and walked away.
They say it takes a minute to find a special person, an hour to appreciate them, a day to love them but then an entire life to forget them.
Wishing you balance and ‘enough’ always!