I thought if I grew up, did good, and made everyone proud of me, it would be enough.
I thought if I got a good job, got a better job, made money, and then made even more money, it would be enough.
I thought if I met the right person, fell in love, got married, got a house, wised up, moved on, met the really right person, got remarried, and got a better house it would be enough.
I thought if I didn’t get pregnant, or if I did get pregnant, if I had a child, or if I didn’t have a child, it would be enough.
I thought if I could ever again sleep through the night, take a shower, get beyond the first three months, get beyond diapers, get through potty training, get past the ear infections, and into the right kindergarten, it would be enough.
I thought if I could lose ten pounds, get a better haircut, get the right jeans, get a different hair color, lose ten pounds, lose the same ten pounds, or just accept my hair and body the way they were, it would be enough.
I thought if I made everything healthy, organic, and by hand, with an occasional pizza night thrown in, it would be enough.
I thought if I went to Italy, France, New York, India, Big Sur, China, Santa Fe, Las Vegas, Seattle, Sedona, Indonesia, Orlando or just Kansas City it would be enough.
I thought if I ate, prayed and loved enough, it would be enough.
I thought if I could understand, explain, and express my feelings, it would be enough.
I thought it I could write a book and get it published, it would be enough.
I thought if I had the right luck, attitude, information, and inspiration; I thought if I wished, hoped, dared or dreamed enough, then it would finally be enough.
Then I thought: enough.
I practice being enough. When I do that, everything, already, is enough.
Off to get one little girl past an ear infection. Or two.
Exactly. Perfect for my Monday morning.
Comment by denise — December 10, 2007 @ 5:46 pm
This relaxes me. Thank you.
I hope the ear infection heals quickly.
Comment by Moanna — December 10, 2007 @ 6:13 pm
These words are good advice when the perfectionist in me appears. But I wonder how to reconcile them with yearnings for change. Perhaps I need to practice as well letting other people and places be enough?
I hope those little ears feel better soon.
Comment by RocketMom — December 10, 2007 @ 7:25 pm
Thank you for these wise, wonderful words… especially today!!
Dee
http://pavinganewroad.wordpress.com
Comment by Anonymous — December 10, 2007 @ 7:33 pm
Another printable for Shawn’s refrigerator.
This is so true. True, indeed.
Yet some days I just want to yell, “Enough!!”
Comment by Shawn — December 10, 2007 @ 7:39 pm
That’s a deep exhale right there.
We are already enough, and always were.
And sometimes for me this means that it is enough, I am enough, to be “not” enough.
Was the eat, pray, love reference intentional? 🙂
Hope Georgia feels better soon and tell her that in my last ear infection I personally found cherry flavored Popsicles to help the most.
Comment by bella — December 10, 2007 @ 8:29 pm
RocketMom, change occurs whether we yearn for it or not, and usually just about the time we’ve had enough of yearning.
Bella, every reference is pure intention; everything calls for pure attention! Thank you for noticing. And although it might seem so, it is never possible for you to be not enough. But to see that for yourself? That’s practice.
Shawn, I wish you would go ahead and yell and make it so.
Everyone, I’ll be sure to let Georgia know of your well wishes. Truth be told, she is pure delight when she’s in the fog of fever and intoxicated by a cocktail of ibuprofen.
Comment by Karen — December 10, 2007 @ 8:41 pm
“i am enough”.
something to meditate on today.
thank you…
xoxo
Comment by Boho Girl — December 10, 2007 @ 8:45 pm
how I wish I could stop, breathe, and say “enough.” How I wish I could stop waiting for the change that will finally make everything okay. This is a lovely post, but I need instruction. How, HOW do I realize that I am enough?
Comment by Lisa — December 10, 2007 @ 11:14 pm
Lisa, come back. Tomorrow’s post is for you.
Comment by Karen — December 11, 2007 @ 12:01 am
So beautifully written.
I don’t know why but this post saddened me. We are never there, but always there. We can’t choose what is enough…
Comment by Mika — December 11, 2007 @ 12:02 am
You said it! Good luck with those ear infections — those are miserable.
Comment by Mary P Jones (MPJ) — December 11, 2007 @ 7:55 am
in Hebrew…”dayenu” — enough, or is it never enough? a traditional prayer said during the passover seder to remind us that our lives are so full of blessing that we just have to stop and see what would be enough if we just let it…
Comment by Phyllis Sommer — December 11, 2007 @ 12:44 pm
Thank you. ~ K.
Comment by Anonymous — April 22, 2008 @ 3:04 am
I’m experiencing some existential crisis with my son starting all-day kindergarten. I put “kindergarten” in the search for this blog and found my way to this post.
Thank goodness I found it! I don’t know what I’m looking for. But this is definitely a find.
Thank you, Karen. I feel more comfortable with the sudden aloneness…
Comment by char — August 30, 2011 @ 11:41 am