Simplicity: Having ‘enough’

“He who knows that enough is enough will always have enough”

- Lao Tzu

Lately, I have been thinking a lot about what it means to have enough.

I’ve noticed that I’ve been putting a lot of pressure on myself to constantly be striving for more – not only in terms of finances and material things, but also in terms of my personal growth and development.

It’s a feeling of constantly chasing, but never quite arriving.

Knowing what is ‘enough’ is so integral to simplifying our lives and helping us see where we can let go and what we can let go of.

Leo Babauta of Zen Habits explains that enough does not necessarily mean only having those basic things in your life that are necessary for survival. To him, ‘having enough’ also includes the things that allow him to be comfortable, happy and thriving.

The thing is, we tend to have most of those things that makes us comfortable, happy and able to thrive in our lives already. Yet, we’re so often not aware of it, which creates the need to want more.

And it’s often this ‘wanting more’ that makes it difficult for us to be content with what we already have. It leads to over-accumulating, over-consumption, over-working, over-stressing, and just a general feeling of unhappiness and dissatisfaction with life.

The irony is that once we get more, we’re still not satisfied, because there is always the next thing and the next and the next… and so the cycle of striving and accumulating continues.

Simplifying your life starts with knowing what ‘enough’ looks like FOR YOU.

Leo suggest that we ask ourselves the following questions in order to get clear on what ‘enough’ means to us, and to identify where we might be striving for ‘beyond enough’:

  • What are the main things that make you happy?

  • What are the things that you need in order to survive comfortably?

  • What are the things you need in order to thrive?

  • What do you currently have in your life that exceeds your need for survival and thriving?

  • What are the things that you want that exceeds ‘enough’?

These are powerful questions that can evoke deep gratitude and appreciation for where you are currently at in your life. It can also give you a good sense of where in your life you might be striving unnecessarily, making it easier to simplify and let go.

X Lineé

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