What is enough?
INDIGENOUS TRIBES such as the Aetas have a developed sense of what is enough. Anthropologists cite them for understanding the true meaning of natural conservation. The fruits on trees along the way in their tribal home near the volcano are seen as there for all to share. If there is an abundance of produce, the Aeta does not pick any more than what he can personally consume for one meal. He will leave the rest for others who will pass the same way. He does not consider getting more than what he can eat, either to sell or to hoard for the following day. What he takes is just enough for himself, and taking more than that is considered a violation of nature.
In our “just in case” mentality, the concept of what is enough can become vague. Do you just take enough toilet paper at the office or mall to meet your immediate needs? Or do you roll up a bundle to take away, in case you need it afterwards? What is enough?
One rule for keeping fit and healthy requires one to limit food intake. This can mean counting calories and fat content to determine that what gets into the system is only what is needed. This dietary meaning of “enough” can vary with individuals. One may consider it enough to eat just to still the hunger pangs. (One must get up from the dining table still feeling a bit hungry.) A more generous definition may set the limit higher to when the belly is about to burst and consider a proper meal anything he can carry on a plate without needing assistance — waiter can you please carry the second plate for me.
Whether it is food, wealth, or status, “enough” is often a personally variable concept. The frontier of contentment and well-being can be a moving target. Thus, childhood ambitions like having a family, owning a house that is debt-free, sending the kids to a good school, and having a healthy bank account for retirement start to be questioned once they are achieved. Does additional wealth move the needle to what is considered enough?
The Latin word for this adjective or adverb, which means adequate for one’s wants and needs, is satis, the root word for satisfaction.
When “enough” becomes a moving goal, it can lead to frustration. (It’s no longer good enough for me.) This sense of dissatisfaction can also be a motivational tool. The feeling of not having enough is triggered by envy, comparing one’s lot with a more successful peer. Having 10 million bucks in the bank may be a basis for feeling secure and happy enough, until one meets a former classmate who has 20. Comparison may then determine what is enough. And as Soren Kierkegaard puts it, “Comparisons are odious.” (Or they should be.)
It is not only to blessings or wealth where the idea of limits applies. Violence, corruption, and the abuse of power can breach what is tolerable enough. Then “too much” becomes for the victims and former bystanders no longer acceptable. “Enough” can be a battle cry for change — we can’t take any more.
Stresses arise from a misplaced understanding of what is enough. Removing limits to what can be achieved can put one in a perpetual state of discontent. It is true that reasonable men accept things as they are. Perhaps then, only unreasonable men can effect change because they don’t accept the status quo as enough.
There is a Latin saying, “verbum sat sapienti est,” or “a word to the wise is enough.” There is no need to elaborate or explain too much when a word is enough. To soulmates too, it is enough to communicate with body language, maybe a raised eyebrow (don’t go there) or a smile (keep doing what you’re doing). The small clues are enough.
Retirement is an application of the idea of enough. The retiree, no matter his age, decides he has had enough of the routine and stress of working to decide to do something else like solving the world’s problems with friends.
But what is “enough” for him to retire on? How much money does he really need?
It is his eulogy that will decide this — yes, he has lived long enough to go the distance.
Tony Samson is chairman and CEO of TOUCH xda
