The Freedom Of Knowing What Is Enough
“It’s about recognising what enough is for you, in your truest state, and then just choosing not to take more than that.”
That’s the sentence I haven’t been able to get out of my head for over a week. A sentence, spoken by Nicole Antoinette on her podcast, Real Talk Radio (it was this episode), that I have been replaying over and over in my mind. A sentence that seemed to so perfectly tie together the many messy and untethered thoughts that have been demanding my attention for months now.
“It’s about recognising what enough is for you, in your truest state, and then just choosing not to take more than that.”
It sounds so simple written down like that, doesn’t it? But hearing those words felt like an “aha!” moment for me, like a lightbulb being switched on in my brain. Suddenly I could summarise with eloquence the thought process that has been driving so many of my decisions recently. Suddenly someone had given life to this idea that I’d been mulling over, that maybe all we need is enough. That maybe, striving for anything more than that is not a good use of our time.
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Enough. It’s not a sexy word, is it? But leaning into this idea of enough this year has been one of the most freeing mindset shifts I’ve ever had.
I have always operated from a place of scarcity. Maybe that’s my working class family roots coming in to play - a hereditary survival instinct that reminds me to never rest on my laurels. Maybe it’s because I graduated into a recession, when there were quite literally not enough jobs to go around. Or maybe that’s just the effect that rampant capitalism has on our society, reminding us all that no matter how much we have, there’s always more out there to go after.
So many of our goals in life are driven out of a desire to have more, aren’t they? More money, more space, more power, more status. The promotions, the flashy job titles, the big houses, the fancy holidays - they’re all milestones on this path to more. We’re convinced by society that the more we have, the happier we’ll be. And so we keep on chasing, always pushing for more, more, more.
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What does enough look like? That’s the question that’s been replaying in my mind since I listened to that podcast. What does enough look like, and how can I actively choose not to take more than that? What would be enough to satisfy me, without forcing me onto that treadmill of more, more, more?
The answers I keep coming back to surprise me. I need a lot less than I’ve always believed. A job that fulfils and challenges me, work that allows me to make a positive impact in the world. A home that can house our little family, with enough space to entertain friends and have the people we love come to stay. More time and space to create and get outdoors and live life in the moment. Enough money to sustain mine and my husband’s creative pursuits, with a little bit left over for living.
I don’t need the fancy job title. I don’t need the five bedroom house. I don’t need the six figure salary, or the flashy car, or the wardrobe bursting with designer purchases. I don’t need 5 star luxury holidays or endless shopping hauls or a postcode in the very best area of town. And so, why have I spent so much time chasing them? Why couldn’t I realise that what I had was already enough, that appreciating those things would bring me more joy than striving for more?
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I think the most powerful thing we can do is question our desire for more. Sometimes we genuinely need more, to feed our families or clothe our children or contribute more to our communities. But so often, that desire for more is driven by something much deeper than we realise.
Often, we push for more because we feel like we aren’t already enough. We strive towards those external symbols of success to prove that we’re worthy, to prove that we’re special. But realising you’re enough, realising that you’re already worthy and special and unique exactly as you are right now? That’s internal work. There’s no job title or postcode or Instagrammable holiday that will make you feel good enough if you don’t already believe it deep down inside. Believing that you are already enough is the first step on this path to recognising what is enough for you.
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Freedom. That’s the word that comes to mind now when I think of the concept of having enough. Freedom from the corporate career path, freedom from the goals and ambitions that no longer serve me. Freedom from the need to earn more, have more, be more. Freedom to be who I am, freedom to do the work I want to do in the world. And most of all, freedom to enjoy my life right now, in all it’s imperfect and beautiful glory. Because this little life of mine? It is enough. I am enough.