25 Apr The Wisdom of What’s Enough: How to Cultivate It
The Wisdom of What’s Enough: How to Cultivate It. The three bears are the quintessential story of enjoying what’s enough. (Don’t be like Goldilocks. Be like Baby Bear.) Copyright-free image by Arthur Rackham from Wikipedia.
The Wisdom of What’s Enough: How to Cultivate It
What is enough?
How do you know when you’ve found it?
It’s worth your time discerning the answers.
When do you have enough of what you want?
This is the wisdom of what’s enough. Your wisdom. Your version of enough.
The Sweet Spot of What’s Enough
I recently read an opinion piece in my go-to weekly, the Financial Times Weekend, published in London. The columnist* guessed that those have much more than enough don’t appreciate what they have/eat/enjoy as much as people who have what’s enough. Even though it is harder for people who have what’s enough to eat in a fancy restaurant or own a fancy car or take a fancy vacation. We enjoy it more!
I agree.
RAISING CLARITY on What’s Enough
RAISING CLARITY is all about finding your version of enough. Having what’s enough = a peaceful relationship with money, wealth, abundance–that is ethical, because ethical brings its own deep peace. It’s been years since we articulated this as abundance vs. brand slavery, yet I’ll admit it’s still one of my favorite posts.
How to Cultivate It?
1. Take an interest what “it” even is.
Do you ever think about this “what’s enough” stuff?
Why? When? What makes you think about it? Or–
Why not? A crucial question–
What do you think about instead?
My hunch is there’s something your mind goes to when you could be thinking about what’s enough: how little you have or much you could have, who has more or why you don’t have more.
Do you do that? And then do you miss out on thinking about what’s enough? Why? If you didn’t do that, but took an interest in what was what’s enough for you, you might discover you actually have plenty. Maybe even more than enough.
You might discover your own wisdom of what’s enough.
2. Figure out what just enough looks and feels and sounds and smells and tastes like for you.
Hint: It’s different in every situation. But you will know it when you experience it–if you take an interest. (See Step 1.)
Just enough is a sensual experience.
Pay attention: when do you really lack? when are you really overwhelmed by too much? when is what’s enough?
3. What you appreciate, appreciates.**
The more you pay attention to what’s enough, the more you will have of it. And I don’t mean “almost enough.” I mean enough. What feels right and makes you say “ahhhh.” And then we can spend our time enjoying instead of avoiding or craving.
*Whose author is Janan Ganesh, and whose subtitle is “Beyond a certain level of income, the relationship between money and enjoyment stops being linear.”
** This quote is from Lynne Twist. Here is an article she wrote, and the quote is from her Soul of Money, which is linked at the bottom of that article.
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