Enough
I am Enough ...
My eye has just lingered on a book that’s on my bookshelf by John Naish called enough. Enough is about breaking free from the world of excess. The book is about ‘enoughness’ and how in the western world we always seem to be reaching for the next big thing.
It has made me think about being enough. Am I enough to write this blog? Do I have enough skills to help people to change their lives? Does the whole idea of needing more and more bleed into our view of who we are as people?
I’d say yes it can, the whole idea of needing more used to affect me. Think about it if you're always chasing the next big thing it makes it mighty hard to see yourself as enough, to see yourself as someone that is good enough to do all the things that you may want to do.
To my mind stretching, searching and looking for that something more detracts from ever being enough.
‘Are we there yet? Are we there yet? It’s the eternal chorus from the back seat of human evolution… Are we happy enough yet? Are we informed enough yet? … if Lord Maynard Keynes, were in the driving seat, he’d turn around and reply somewhat testily, ‘bloody hell yes, now get out and start enjoying the view.’
John Naish – Enough
For years I was on the train of studying. I did one course after another. The reason I was constantly up-levelling ‘me’ I admit was because I did not think that I was enough. I believed that I had to do more before I could start my business, more to have the life I wanted, save more, get a property, be married, have kids, qualify in every rediculous course that we have been told is for our betterment yadda yadda yadda... The problem is that these beliefs meant that my dreams and goals were always just out of my reach; my fingers grazing the idea of it, but never quite reaching it.
Yep, with such an attitude I was going to stay where I was and it took a major mind shift for me to realise that I’d been sold a wonky bill of goods…
I guess the truth is if we don't see that there is an issue, we will stay on the wheel and keep doing Sisyphean like tasks constantly.
Definition of Sisyphean task (king in ancient Greece who offended Zeus and whose punishment was to roll a huge boulder to the top of a steep hill; each time the boulder neared the top it rolled back down and Sisyphus was forced to start again)
Taken from the freedictionary.com
It’s kind of impossible to be enough when you are constantly doing the same things over and over again.
So how do we realise that we are enough and what do we need to do to get the new attitude to stick?
It’s a light bulb moment for me, it’s about realising that I am enough, that I have enough money, love, peace, stuff, time (now this is a big one for me and I’m still learning it) – in my previous job time was always an issue and we were not really given enough (s’cuse the pun!!) time (ooops and another) to complete our tasks. This led to tremendous anxiety in me and I found it impossible to believe …
We have enough and We are Enough
We really are what we think and back then (it wasn’t that long ago either) I really was what I thought. I truly believed that I wasn't competent and it took me a few months after I left to realise that I do have enough time, I do have enough moxie, I do have enough education to be Me … Seriously, check this out my search for more was stopping me from being Me… *cue guilty face!!*
Guys we want to be ourselves, surely we don’t want to give in to the story that we are not acceptable!! Granted this story has been fed to us throughout our lives, and therefore we have absorbed its message without question.
I say be brave and question it, ask yourself where you’re feeling that you are not enough. Because believe me as I found out and you will too, you are more than Enough.
My deep message here is that there is enough for everyone, there is enough love, time, space, stuff … You name it there is enough of it. All we need to do is tap into the mindset of this belief.
Drop the message that you can not have something; drop the idea that you are not adequate. However understand that to live a fantastic life you need to believe that you already are all that you can be. Being worthy means that anything new that you acquire is a bonus. As opposed to a yearning that is just out of your reach.
It also means that the dream can happen, and you’ll start to understand that striving will just bring you more of the same. Know when you have enough of something and let go of what you don’t need. This will mean that you realise your 'enoughness' as a person and can create new experiences in the space you have cultivated. Let go of the beliefs and attitudes that no longer serve you – I promise you it’s worth it.
In the end we can either give in to scarcity thinking, or we can embrace being enough ...
