Enough-ness and Gratitude
A young man was explaining to me why his life sucked. He told me he couldn’t succeed until he had “enough.” That’s a relative term. What is ENOUGH? And why aren’t you enough? It sounded like an excuse to me.
The real question? Are you grateful for – and using all the resources you already have? Or are you waiting for more to appear before you move forward with your dreams? What are you willing to do to find the “more” that you believe you need? How about starting with gratitude? When you live in gratitude and recognize what you have, then you can stop wistfully looking at others’ successes and start working on your own.
I recently spoke with a woman whose husband built a multi-million dollar business from scratch.
She told me, “I always thought when we finally made it that I wouldn’t worry anymore. But there’s never enough. We may have more zeroes in our checking account than you do, but our stack of bills has more zeroes as well!”
That’s a powerful concept I never forgot. When looking at others from the outside, we make up stories about their lives. Most of the time we’re wrong, and comparing ourselves to a false assumption is dangerous. Where do we get these silly notions that other people’s so-called good fortune is “NOT FAIR?”
Is it good fortune or was it the result of dedication and hard work? What is “Fair?” My brother has worked tirelessly for 8 years, EIGHT YEARS, on an invention that may soon make it to market in a big way. I know he has worked 14-18 hours a day, seven days a week, month in and month out for almost 100 months. I know how dedicated and committed he is. I know the sacrifices he and his family have made. Yet there will be people who will be jealous when he finally has what they consider to be more than his “fair” share. But these people aren’t willing to put in the time, effort and money it takes to see a dream to fruition.
What are you willing to do with the gifts you were given? How many hours will you dedicate to an idea or a concept that may make the world better? What are you willing to risk to see it through to the end? How much time is enough to dedicate to successful deployment of this gift, this skill, this concept? Will you give up and whine that “it’s not FAAAAAAIIIIIIIRRRRR!” when you don’t become an overnight millionaire?
Simple Truth: the majority of people who have what you consider to be “enough” were the people who stayed up late and got up early; the people who read and researched; the people who kept at it until the puzzle could be solved. They weren’t sitting on the couch playing video games and watching reruns of Friends, wistfully wishing they could be rich, white 20-somethings living in a rent-controlled apartment in NYC in the 90’s. (Note to those who dream like that… there were very few, if any, people living like that in the 90’s. It’s a TV SHOW, not reality.)
What is Enough to you? What is enough ambition; enough ideas; enough time; enough money; enough inspiration; enough roof over your head and a full belly? We all get the same 24 hours in a day. How will you use yours?
TL;DR
Harsh circumstances don’t need to stop you from your goals.
Take Risks. Put in the time it takes. Do the work.
Be grateful for what you have and don’t have. (PS – you have enough.)
Pay attention to ideas and thoughts that flit through your brain and use them in a wise way to make the world better because you were born.
Thanks for listening.
Take care of yourself, we need you!
PS – Don’t forget to read my article in Metiza Magazine for teenage girls – Choose Love
PSS – aren’t those flowers beautiful? That’s the sage and Mexican Bird of Paradise in my front yard… in the desert no less!
PSSS – TL;DR means “Too Long, Didn’t Read” – so I put a recap there for people with short attention spans. You’re welcome.
© 2016 Beth Terry • All Rights Reserved
