Enough

My favorite chef and dear friend was visiting with her husband a few months ago.  They were attending an event to celebrate a Michelin Star.  Their Michelin Star!! The road to this accomplishment was not an easy one as they took on two difficult tasks -- building a business and having a child.  As is often the case, there were many challenges on their journey, not the least of which was establishing an affordable living arrangement in an expensive real estate market.  When they returned from the awards dinner we sat down in the living room to talk about their evening and life, as one does when returning from such a dinner.  She recalled the year’s successes with the hospitality business she and her husband had established.  Importantly there were personal milestones of the success of their son and moving into their own home and personal space.  I watched her eyes close and her posture soften as she sat back in her chair reviewing these events, then she turned to me and spoke.  “As I think of my life I have come to understand that I have enough.”

This comment resonated with me then and now.  I have often thought about this statement and how meaningful it is.

Several years ago, I gave a commencement address at the University of California,  Santa Barbara.  I built the speech around a poem written by Robert Hastings – The Station.  The core of this poem is a reminder that the joy of life is the journey and not the destination.  Not having enough is related to this feeling that all will be better once……. I buy a fancy car --- a better house ---- an expensive suit ---- a wine collection ---- a better job --- a prettier or more handsome spouse and on and on ---- as we strive to accumulate more and better things in our lives.

While standing, the average person takes up approximately 2 square feet or .019 square meters of space.    When you think about that statistic you come to understand how little space we need to be comfortable.  One cannot or should not drink a bottle of wine every night. What was I going to do with a 10,000 - bottle wine collection or for that matter I would be lost in my 15,000 sq. foot home ?  

We live in a culture focused on the future or a world that is somehow better than the one we are currently occupying, always reaching out for something bigger, better or just more.  Many of us are in an unending race to accumulate things with which to surround ourselves.    

I live in a small home relative to homes of my past, yet it is a large home compared with a majority of people in this wealthy country.  I have kind and generous friends and a beautiful and loving family.  I have health and a generous personality.  I am learning to focus on and enjoy being in the present.  It has taken me awhile to come to that understanding.  It would be a good exercise for one to take stock of the benefits that life has afforded,  especially compared to others around the world that live beyond insufferable conditions.  It is as important as the exercise you do for your body to exercise an assessment of all that you have……

I have come to understand that I have enough….