Surrending to enough?
More is better, you can never have enough or even worse a little more just to be safe, they are traps, you can tell by the cheese that is being used as lure. Human are cleverer than the average mouse (how much you think this is true probably tells you more about you than about humankind) they are not going to be foiled by a piece of cheddar, instead a thing will split opinions and give human the chance to show social intelligence, one persons holiday of their dreams, is someone else tacky nightmare, a gold ring might be valuable for some and so last year for others. What traps humans is ideas, it is the idea of not having enough and sometimes more importantly wanting what others have, which if they have it must be important or why would they have it and not us?
That is the trap incomplete information, if we knew exactly what we want and need for the whole of our lives, we would work to get them and then not worry about getting anymore. If we knew the reason that the person who had a yacht, only got it to look good to his boss, who in turn did the same, and if we also knew that how much they paid, both in capital and running costs, we would probably come up with things that was a better use of those resources. Further in a world of complete knowledge, we would know that they only used it twice a year, and yet they spent a dozen weekend repairing it, painting it, re-roping it and whatever else people do in the privacy of their own world to these boat, in fact when you really knew what was going on underneath that Instagram picture, it would begin to look like they had gotten themselves a part time job looking after a boat that is not used.
If you truly love boating, if it is that what you want to spend all your time doing it, I totally get loving the idea of having a boat, the romantic idea of sailing into the sunset, but if that is what you want do it, live on a boat, make it your living, sail everyday, make it your world, or rent it for a day, it is the middle ground of being a person who has a boat and a job that traps you. That is why the question of what you want is so tied up in the question of what is enough, what you want is achievable if you want one things, life is not a box of chocolate where you get to have a different favour with every moment, and fibre would look pretty good after a day of it, which leads us to another trap.
What you are doing is always more important than what you have, the things you need are the ones that are necessary for the things you want to do. A carpenter without a hammer is not really a carpenter, just someone who talks about carpentry and a hammer without a carpenter is just a paper weight, we give things their meaning and they also give us purpose and abilities beyond our body bare capabilities. That is the magic of things, when they are in alignment with our wants, desires and purpose, at their best they are companions on our journeys, they empower us to achieve our dreams, purpose, they give the meaning to our lives and makes them more productive. To be clear I adore my tools, I care for them, maintain them, I sharpen my pencils and clear my desktop, especially the virtual ones, a clogged up hard disk is a horror to work flow, they make my work flow smoother and less interrupted, they are aligned and move me closer to my goals.
Not that my material things are limited to tools, anything that makes my life easier or more pleasurable is warmly invited into my life, bread maker, moko coffee pot, books, however I try to just have enough, not because I am virtue signalling, I have no interest in limiting myself to fifty items that fit into a backpack (can I make do when traveling, sure of course, but when I am home, which is another very expensive item, I want to be comfortable and happy). What I do not do is hide the things I want in a pile of rubbish that do not make me happy, there is no point having the perfect shirt if it is hidden under a pile of unwashed, unloved cheap shirts. I have less to have better, higher value and quality things that are easy to find because that is all I have. Fifteen shirts are probably more than most people need, and that is if they only wash them once every two weeks, having more would just be a hassle, so why not have only shirts that make you happy, curate a collection rather than have a herd, and as a bonus you get to shop less and if you have a capsule wardrobe, where everything works with everything else.
That is what thinking about what you want gets you, things that work for you and makes your life easier, that frees you to pursue whatever is important to you, and when you start thinking about it, it means you have taken the first step, it is consider consumerism that brings you happiness (at least with the things in your life). As when the things in your life supports what you want to do that is a recipe for a good life, but it does require you to surrender to what is enough, you can absolutely be the captain of your own ship as long as that is the only thing you want. That might sound like a sacrifice, it is, you give up everything for the things you want more than anything else, be as honest as you can with yourself and then pursue what you want to the exclusion of everything else.
You can build a life around whatever is important to you if you are prepared to make that sacrifice, by excluding everything and what others thinks, you free up your energy to be focused without waste on those wants that are actually important to you. You can be as greed as you like, which if you want to be a decent person out of choice is probably not as greed as you think, it is not a bad thing if you want to ski everyday you can work in a ski resort, if just want money for a family be an accountant, grow your own food, be a farmer, it is a big world out there find you own place in it, and be kind, because why not. If you know what you want, you will surely want other people to be happy and get what they want as well, and that is when surrendering to enough becomes beautiful.
When we stop pursuing everything, when we stop worrying about what other having, we have the freedom to just take what we need and leave plenty on the table for others. We start looking at our families, friends and communities as opportunities to share what we do not need, we appreciate the chance for mutual benefit. When enough is easily earnt, and even when we safe guard our futures with savings and wealth building (not with higher income but asset buying), that wealth is the investment that generates greater productivity and less back-braking work for all. When we free up our time, we are able to look after our health, live free from constant chronic stress, and instead learn, teach, inspire and create, without the threat of eviction and homelessness. I believe that a society that has abundance is one that has a greater chance of hitting the technological break through that truly change and improves our lives in a way that regulated factory societies can never do.
There are real opportunities for governments to change the toxic atmosphere of our economies, to introduce universal income, freedom from economic threats of early death from homelessness, to guarantee a roof over you head, food in your belly and an ability to function in society does not sounds like a money tree, just decency. However I would never wait on the government to save you, so save yourself and as many of those around you as you can, build a money tree (assets that give you income) in your life and make sure it is big enough to pay for whatever your enough is, and by making sure you know what is enough, you do not have to work for any longer than is necessary for a big enough tree, and then you are free. Free to be the best possible version of yourself, to do what you care about, when you wish and I hope you will be amazed by who that person is.
