What is Enough?

I ponder this question a lot. What is enough? How do I live “simply enough?”

Merriam-Webster defines enough as “occurring in such quantity, quality, or scope as to fully meet demands, needs, or expectations <enough food for everyone>.”

Note the example. Enough food for everyone. What a concept.

We have enough food to feed everyone. I read the other day that the food industry produces 3900 calories of food per person per day here in the US. That’s more than enough.

Does enough mean you buy only that which sustains life? Like food, shelter, and basic clothing? Or does it mean you also acquire things which make life pleasant? Like esthetically pleasing furnishings and Pinot Noir?

The concept of enough seems to be rather squishy and personalized. Everybody has slightly different needs, even though we all have the same basic life requirements.

Yesterday, I bought the latest Harry Potter DVD for my daughter. Did she need it? No. Did it make her very happy? Yes. Will we get our money’s worth from it? Absolutely. Could the money have fed a child in Africa for two months? Indeed.

So where am I heading with all this? Not sure. Just thinking out loud. What’s important is that we think along these lines. We won’t always buy only that which falls into the “need” category. And that’s OK. Because 9 out of 10 times, we will bypass that coveted item and escape the consumerist web that has been spun around us.

Because we care and we’re aware of this magical concept called “enough.”

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