Is Enough Ever Really Enough?

Last week I celebrated my birthday, and much to the kids’ dismay I didn’t put as many candles on the cake as there are years in my life …. there just aren’t enough candles in the house (or room on the cake)!  A week ago dear hubby asked what I wanted for my birthday and after thinking for half a minute, I couldn’t come up with anything on the spot.  And I reckon this is a great thing!  I’m blessed with so many good things in my life, do I really need to add anything more?

It can be really easy to get caught up in the materialistic things in life.  We live in a consumer–driven society obsessed with obtaining more and more stuff.  As a society we are told that it’s the next thing we attain, earn, achieve or own that is going to make us happy, fulfilled or good enough. But Eastern philosophy, particularly the Buddhist philosophy of minimalism, focusses on life outside of the physical and suggests that we don’t actually need much of the ‘stuff’ we surround ourselves with. 

On his blog www.simplefamilyfinance.com, Chris Tecmire says that Buddhist monks were historically only allowed to own 8 possessions.  He says “Buddha taught that suffering is caused by desire (or craving), which is ironic since the TV tells us that we should crave particular products because they will end our suffering.”

While I have no intention of becoming a minimalist and selling up everything we own, including the kids toys (although I must admit I have thought about it, when they are strewn all over the family room), there are plenty of advantages in keeping the amount of “stuff” we own in check.  Some of these are:

·         Better Clarity

Having fewer possessions reduces the distractions that can make life feel more complicated.  The fewer distractions, the clearer your purpose in life can become.

·         More Time
Less time spent on shopping, and more time spent on more meaningful activities.

·         Less Clutter
Researchers at the Princeton University Neuroscience Institute published results of a study they conducted on the effects of cluttered environments on the brain.  They found that when your environment is cluttered, the chaos restricts your ability to focus. The clutter also limits your brain’s ability to process information. Clutter makes you distracted and unable to process information as well as you do in an uncluttered, organized, and serene environment.

·         More Money
If you are buying fewer things you are saving more money.  It’s as simple as that.

But while I can say that I have enough physical, material things in my life (a house, a car, clothes, TVs, computer etc), I think I will never have enough of learning.  I just love it and can’t get enough of it.  I need to learn new things and strive for excellence in the new thing.  Just recently I have decided on a change in career direction, and I’m looking forward to the challenges and learnings that this new opportunity and position will provide.  I’m hoping that it will also fulfil my goal of attaining simplicity – a simple concept and structure at work to complement the simplicity I’m striving to achieve in my home life.

Jessika Hepburn writes some beautiful words on “enough” on her blog http://ohmyhandmade.com/2012/businessy-goodness/we-are-enough/ : “Enough recognizes that our needs are vast and different and will shift as our responsibilities and lives do. It is not about an endless pursuit of more but of loving the stage we are at right now and growing with intention. Contentment does not equal complacency! More pushes us to feel inadequate, as if staying small or feeling your own slow way forward is unacceptable-leading us to frenzied business building, over consumption, overwhelm, guilt, resentment and insecurities. More says there isn’t enough to go around so take all you can get and hold tight to it. There is a brittle, frantic neediness to more and it feeds on fear, scarcity, and uncertainty.

On the other hand, enough is abundant and has lots of breathing room. It allows you to build your business and life while defining what you need and deeply want. At each stage there is space to expand and contract. Enough gives you permission to look clearly at where you are right now and forward with intention. Your enough might very well be a 6 figure income and a house in Hollywood but maybe it is a little farm and a sweet cottage biz making jam while your children play outside. Both have value and a place as does all the range of diversity in between.”

So, did I end up with any presents for my birthday?  Of course! And they were fabulously practical… vouchers for our local nursery to be spent on our upcoming kitchen garden, and a new lamp to read by in the lounge after the kids have gone to bed.  Just perfect!

Have you any experience in living a minimalist lifestyle that you would like to share?  Do you have any thoughts on "having enough"?  You can post them below or send an email to me at livewelllivesmart@gmail.com