A Cure for the “Not Enoughs”
Whether you are a busy parent, one who is struggling to make ends meet, trying to keep up with endless looming deadlines at work or you are worried about the Earth’s environment, you might find yourself saying words like these:
“There are not enough hours in the day…”
“There’s not enough money in my bank account…”
“There are not enough resources on our planet…”
“There’s not enough of me to go around…”
You may have developed a case of the “not enoughs.”
Your statement that there’s just not enough of something may feel absolutely true. You might even have test results, bank statements, scientific studies and real life experiences to confirm this reality.
But what is the cost of the “not enoughs?”
How do we hold ourselves back and drain away the joy and abundance that is also present (if we can see it) when we mostly walk around declaring to ourselves that there is just not enough?
Another way to put this is…
When all we can see is lack and scarcity, what is the cost– to us as individuals, to our families, our communities and our planet?
I have been known to fall into a lack-oriented perception of my life and world from time to time– actually, more often than I’d like to admit to.
I hear myself say that I don’t have enough energy to do everything I have to do in a day.
I look at a new car I’d like to own or think about a beach vacation I’d like to take and, with my family’s current financial situation, both seem unlikely in the foreseeable future.
The trouble with the “not enoughs” is that they have a tendency to fester and spread.
A person might start out perceiving lack in one area of his or her life and find that the perception of scarcity spreads to other areas.
It can literally infect your entire way of looking at life and your experience of it will match.
As you might guess, an “infection” of this type has a holding back, tightening up effect. It is nearly impossible to learn, grow and expand in the ways that you desire when this is your usual mode.
“But,” you might be thinking, “This is reality. This is what is true.”
To paraphrase spiritual teacher Abraham, that might be the reality that you see, but it’s not the ONLY reality that’s available to you.
There are countless ways to experience reality– whether it be a stock market crash, health crisis, commute to work, lottery win, love affair or an afternoon at home alone.
Just ask a group of people who witnessed the same event what happened. Chances are, they will each describe it in very different ways.
This is where the “not enoughs” come in. For those who are practiced at mostly seeing lack and scarcity, that’s what the perception and reality will be.
The question I have for you is this…
What kind of a reality do you want to have?
If you have become skilled at seeing the lack, you might feel stuck in the “not enoughs” and, in turn, the “not enoughs” are probably what you are living.
But, there is a cure.
Appreciation
This is not a unique idea and it’s assuredly not the first time someone has probably advised you to appreciate more often.
The thing about appreciation is its power.
When you meet your knee-jerk not enough thinking with gratitude and appreciation, you can shift quickly into a vastly improved experience of your own life– even if the only thing that changes is within you.
In order to find something to appreciate, you have to look outside of the box of limits, dead ends, disappointments, sickness and pollution that you have become accustomed to primarily seeing.
You invite yourself to expand your view.
When you appreciate, you can see that there is a lot of love, care, talent, innovation, resilience and abundance. This doesn’t necessarily cancel out the difficult and unwanted stuff, but it can certainly make positive solutions possible, visible and viable.
I’m not talking about the kind of faux appreciation that you are goaded into, that attempts to guilt trip you into appreciating all that you have because there are SO many other people who have it so much worse than you.
With this guilt trip version, your focus is still on the lack and scarcity.
Instead, I encourage you to get into the habit of looking around at ALL that is in your life and ALL that is you. Deliberately notice anything and everything that you feel true appreciation for.
Hold those sources of appreciation in your heart. Allow the feeling of gratitude to build within.
Now let them flow forth from you– talk, think, make lists of, sing and dance about and celebrate all that you appreciate.
This can help you step out of the “not enoughs” and literally change reality.
Comment from veterinary technician
Time June 16, 2010 at 9:36 am
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