Sunny yellow flower by Sharee Basinger
Shortly after Christmas last year I received one of those sappy forwarded emails which I usually scan and then delete. I kept this one because the message it contained resonated on some level. It was the story of a father saying goodbye to his daughter at the airport, and he told her “I wish you enough”. There was a lot more to it of course, but this is the part that drew my attention.
The question is what is enough? Once upon a time in America, a good job, a roof over your head, clothes on your back, and food in your belly were always enough. This was the good life , when cars and vacations were paid for in cash; “bills” meant utilities such as water, heating, electric, and a home phone; and a house large enough to fit the family was more than enough.
Very slowly, we decided that enough was no longer enough. Suddenly we needed a cell phone(for everyone in the house) in addition to the home phone, two cars instead of just one, vacations that cost several months worth of paychecks, a mini- mansion in what used to be the country and is now the suburbs. And suddenly, home cooking wasn’t good enough – I know stay at home Moms who buy the kiddos lunch at McDonalds!
Of course we could no longer pay cash for all of this, so we had to have a credit card or two or three. For the most part we took out large loans with exorbitant interest (any interest is excessive if you ask me) for the cars. And I won’t even cover what we’ve agreed to so that we could have those mini-mansions in the suburbs.
When the economy tanked in the past couple of years, I think (I hope) we all realized that we had gone past having what we needed, to having things that we wanted just because we could pay monthly on them. I hope that we have learned to pay with cash, and that buying “on time” means giving up years of your earnings for something that will have very little value at the end of that time. I know that many of us have had “enough loss to appreciate all that we possess” and I hope that we take this lesson learned with us and pass it on to our kids.
In closing I wish you enough:
- Enough money in your bank account to pay your bills .
- A roof over your head that is paid off or at least paid for on time each month.
- Enough time to enjoy your children because they are grown and gone so quickly
- Enough gratitude for the people and things in your life so that you may attract more good things and people
- Enough winter so that you appreciate spring and summer when they finally arrive
- Enough despair that you appreciate hope and the smallest bits of happiness
- Enough clarity to explore the alternatives
- Enough hate and war, so that you appreciate love and peace
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