“The secret to life is to know when enough is enough.”

– Dr. Vincent Ryan

I know you know when enough is enough. Or do you? Do you ever find yourself complaining that you need more or want more of something? Time, money, love, space, material possessions, happiness–what’s your “never enough”?

We continually pursue more, thinking more is better, more will make us happier. We work harder thinking if we’re more productive we’ll make more money. Instead, if we slowed down and took more time to refresh ourselves, we’d probably be more productive with a lot less effort and time. We buy more stuff, only to find the thrill is gone when we get home, and now we have more stuff to maintain and store.

One way to stop this endless pursuit is to be grateful for what we have. When we’re not grateful, enough is never enough and we’re plagued by the “I want more” and “I need more” syndromes. Appreciation for what we have puts us in a feeling of being complete with what we have, with who we are, with what we do.

Never having enough, never being enough, never doing enough, is a bottomless hole that can never be filled. Filling that hole is one way addictions get started. Whether overindulging in alcohol, spending, or eating, we will never drink, spend, or eat enough to feel full. Oh, we may have a few moments of feeling stuffed. You know how you feel after eating a big holiday dinner. But aren’t you usually hungry a few hours later, and start munching on leftovers? Well, I know some of us do that, especially those who feel unfulfilled with life in general, where enough is not enough.

What is it that we are really trying to fill up with these substitutes? It could be not feeling good about our work. If we’re not in the right career, we may feel unfulfilled and empty 40 hours each week. It might be a feeling of dissatisfaction with relationships. Maybe we’re single and would like to have a partner, or we’re married and experiencing family challenges. The single person doesn’t feel like enough because they don’t have a partner, while the married person sometimes envies the single person. It’s “the grass is greener” pattern.

Additionally, society has programmed us to think enough is not enough. If we were satisfied with our car, we wouldn’t buy another until it died on us. If we felt our bodies were enough, millions wouldn’t be spent each year on plastic surgery on different clinics as tummy tuck surgery. If we weren’t bombarded by advertising messages telling us what to think, how to think, what to buy, and what we need to be happy, we might find joy and peace in what we have. And enough would be enough.

If we dig deep inside our feelings of not enough, we may find what we need to fill the bottomless well. If we cultivate self-love and a connection to who we are inside, perhaps to a higher power, then we will finally experience feeling, being, doing, and having enough. Because you are enough, just as you are.

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

– Lao Tzu

Thanks to Your Finish Rich Plan for including this article in the Rich Life Carnival, to Personal Hack for publishing this post in the selection of personal development articles, to AnandDhillon.com for featuring this post in the Carnival of Self-Mastery, to  Widow’s Quest for inclusion in the Carnival of Positive Thinking, to One Organized Life Blog for including this post in the Balanced Living Carnival, and to 24 Hour Paradigm for featuring this post in the Day Shifting and Paradigm Carnival.