We humans have a complicated relationship with the idea of ‘enough’. The fear of not doing enough is a trap anyone can fall into if they care about what they do. The fear of not being good enough is one of the most common and wounding core beliefs that holds people back from their dreams and from each other.
‘Not enough’ can be a motivational war cry to inspire us to dig deeper in service of our ambition or community. Or be dangled in front of us by astute marketers and social engineers to keep us drudging along a path of constant consumption, endless subscriptions and relentless work. And not enough food or air or clean water or medicine or love can kill us.
At the other extreme there’s the richest people in the world, with far more than they could ever consume in a thousand lifetimes, who are hell bent on acquiring more no matter the cost to others or the planet. Another 100 billion won’t fill the emotional hole they’re trying to fill.
Few of us are immune from the siren call of enough, the prize just beyond reach, just beyond that next purchase or promotion or praise. It’s like we all played Hungry Hippos as kids and got the message that’s how we play the game of life. Just. Get. More. Or lose.
‘Not enough’ is a cue, not a cure. It’s a signal to investigate our own discomfort and deeper needs. We can be curious and follow the trail of breadcrumbs to its source. “If I had/did/was that, then I would have/feel… and if I had/felt/was that I would have/feel…” and so on.
Sometimes we find we’ve been chasing a unicorn, an unrealistic state of certainty or contentment. Sometimes we find we were chasing something we had all along but it looked too humble and familiar to seem important. And sometimes we find we were chasing the wrong thing. We didn’t need more knowledge, we needed more energy.
But maybe the word ‘enough’ was telling this all along. At least in English. Just look at it. It’s complicated. The spelling is hectic. The pronunciation is bewildering. There’s a lot going on. And indeed there is.
Helen Mentha 