Enough

December 26, 2009

May 2010 bring you Enough
Enough joy to share
Enough love to grow
Enough blessings to care

That is my Holiday wish for all of you. What does it mean to have enough or more importantly to be enough. Friday night was the Lotto Max drawing, everyone at Christmas dinner had a ticket. As I listened to the young people talking about their plans, all any of them wanted was enough. No dreams of mansions or jets... just a home of their own and enough in the bank to provide a secure future for themselves and their children. Wouldn't that be enough for any of us. The Buddhists believe that all suffering is born of avarice (wanting); by wanting we are focused on the future not on enjoying the moment we are experiencing right now. When we focus our energy on having enough, instead of more, we'll create a natural balance in our lives. Any self-help guru will tell you, balance is the key to a healthy mind, body & spirit.

Joy is the root of the word enjoy. Joy is not given to us by the universe, it is a gift we give ourselves. How many moments in your day do you enjoy? By opening our hearts and minds we can find joy in most experiences, a crisp breeze, a child's laugh, a hot shower;-) Make a list for yourself and practice consciously enjoying every moment you can take joy from. There is enough joy in just being alive...it is for us to embrace it. Share your joy, your smile and your laughter with those around you. You will quickly become a welcome presence in the lives you touch everyday (you'll be the popular kid LOL).

To have enough love we only need to give love at every opportunity. The Greeks had separate words to express every type of love; family, brotherly, humanity, passionately, and romantically. To truly love is not conditional on being loved in return (we feel what we feel), But loving does grow love into the world & into our own lives. Just as an apple seed grows into an apple tree which over its lifetime will recreate the cycle a million fold... so by loving, freely and openly in every possible way we grow love into the universe. Express your love by word and deed at every possible opportunity. It is really the only way to heal our hearts and our world.

Blessing are all the good things that come our way, be they wealth, health or peace. Apprieciating the blessings we have, warms our heart; knowing we are special enough that God (as you know him to be) has chosen to gift us in such a way. Look at the people around you and open your heart those who have not been blessed enough. Those whose blessing have long faded behind, veils of fear, pain or self-loathing. Don't ever be afraid to share your blessings, for, like love, blessings are infinite and self-propagating. The more you give, the more will be bestowed upon you.

Since 59% of Canadians are one paycheck away from financial crisis, it is important to address how money fits into my concept of enough. Money is a necessay part of life in our culture...in and of itself it is neither good nor bad. Once we have our basic needs (rent/mortgage, food, heat, clean water, transportation etc) met, do we need more? For some people yes....but the important thing is not to give up your life to support a lifestyle. Every dollar we own is purchased with a piece of our life. So what pieces of your life are you giving up for your extra dollars? Your nine year old might light up when she sees her new bike, but at 29 all she will remember is that you missed her first dance recital. And all you will remember is how she looks in the video you keep replaying.... with that nagging little ache in your heart that says,"I wish I could have been there". Life is not so kind as to always give us the options we want... but if your priorities are of abundance and NOT wealth, you will have more riches then you could have ever imagined.

As I have said before, time is the only thing we cannot save, grow or reclaim; once it passes it is gone forever. NO DO OVERS. Our only choice is to spend it wisely or poorly. To look back at that moment with gratitude or regret...In Don Miguel Ruiz's book "The Four Agreements" one of the agreements is "Always Do Your Best". Your best will change from moment to moment, but if you do the very best you can at any given point in time; it is all anyone can ask (including yourself). That is the nature of being enough.