Enoughness

I contemplate the question of what is enough or enoughness from time to time. The rose in the picture strikes me as enough in and of itself. it strikes me that holding the rose is enough in and of itself.

Yet, we humans seem to, or at least most of us, constantly be seeking more, never seemingly having enough. Are we fearful that we won't be able to have what we need when we need it if we don't get more now? Are we trying to fill voids with stuff?

I have had the pleasure of having some sessions with some local energy workers - a husband and wife who work together during the sessions. He goes into deep meditation to do his part of the work. You meditate at the same time. During the most recent session, I spontaneously started chanting in my mind: "I am enough. I have enough." It helped make a shift in me. 

Yet, on my own at home, I have changed the mantra slightly to be "I am enough. I have enough. I will always be enough. I will always have enough." There is that smidgeon of fear coming through. If I am enough and have enough, will that always be so? I realized while writing this that it would be good to put a stop to this. I bet that the butterflies in the picture never questioned the enoughness of themselves or their world. They just are. 

I have a safe, decent home. I have clean water and clean food. I have work that I love (although here is where I would like more). I have a book that I've published. I am able to think, talk, write, laugh, love, and more. I have the money to pay my bills and buy a few treats here and there.

I sometimes ask myself, how many houses does one person need to own? How many cars? Does having lots of stuff make us happy? Does it make us more productive, more connected to our communities? How much money does any one person really need? What do the people who make vasts amounts of money do with it? Hoard it? Spend it in a generous way? 

I have said to myself that I don't really want to own a car that costs what some people might make in a year or what might go towards buying house. I just need a car to get from one place to another. On the other hand, it might be nice to have the extra money in the amount that a Mercedes, a Ferrari or some other really expensive car costs. I am, after all, a work in progress at the enoughness practice. 

My MorMor (Swedish for Mother's Mother) used to say that you can only sleep in one bed at a time and only eat 3 meals a day. She was one of the calmest people I have ever known. I think she was good at the practice of enoughness. May I become as good at it as she was.

The first photo is by SHHTEFAN, and the second photo is by Boris Smokrovic. Both were found on unsplash.com