Just enough.

Yesterday I received an email, and I took it to heart. It read;

Recently I overheard a Father and daughter in their last moments together at the airport.  They had announced the departure.

Standing near the security gate, they hugged and the Father said, ‘I love you, and I wish you enough.’

The daughter replied, ‘Dad, our life together has been more than enough..  Your love is all I ever needed.  I wish you enough, too, Dad.’

They kissed and the daughter left.  The Father walked over to the window where I was seated.  Standing there I could see he wanted and needed to cry.  I tried not to intrude on his privacy, but he welcomed me in by asking, ‘Did you ever say good-bye to someone knowing it would be forever?’

‘Yes, I have,’ I replied.  ‘Forgive me for asking, but why is this a forever good-bye?’..

‘I am old, and she lives so far away.  I have challenges ahead and the reality is – the next trip back will be for my funeral,’ he said.

‘When you were saying good-bye, I heard you say, ‘I wish you enough.’  May I ask what that means?’

He began to smile.  ‘That’s a wish that has been handed down from other generations.  My parents used to say it to everyone…’  He paused a moment and looked up as if trying to remember it in detail, and he smiled even more. ‘When we said, ‘I wish you enough,’ we were wanting the other person to have a life filled with just enough good things to sustain them…’  Then turning toward me, he shared the following as if he were reciting it from memory.

I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright no matter how gray the day may appear.

I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun even more…

I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive and everlasting.

I wish you enough pain so that even the smallest of joys in life may appear bigger.

I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.

I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.

I wish you enough hellos to get you through the final good-bye.

He then began to cry and walked away.

They say it takes a minute to find a special person, an hour to appreciate them, a day to love them; but then an entire life to forget them.

TAKE TIME TO LIVE…..

To all my friends and loved ones, I WISH YOU ENOUGH.

Just enough, that’s all we need. The desire of wanting more has made this country great. The desire of wanting more has put this country in a financial crisis. It’s the wanting more than enough that drives us to work harder and achieve higher goals.

Money is the number one argument in a marriage and the biggest reason we quit a job for a better paying one. Because we want more.  Why can’t we be happy with just enough? This is a concept I have been working on for myself for the past year.

I now have just enough space to be content. It’s all I need. I have just enough clothing to get me through any occasion. I have just enough food to sustain me and I have just enough kitchen “stuff” to get the job done. I am happy. There isn’t anyone I am trying to impress and quite frankly, I don’t give a damn. I will be downsizing even further as the months go by, and I figure out what I NEED to get the job done, and what I just WANT to have. The “wants” will be stored or given away.

Life is a journey, and it is a journey I plan on enjoying as much as I possibly can. The stuff does not make me happy and never has. It’s the stuff that holds you back. I have just enough, and to my friends, I wish you just enough also!

This is my journey…