When is enough actually enough? People have different ideas about what enough means to them. For some, it is when they can afford the G-wagon payments and an oversized house. For others it is when they can go to bed with food in their stomachs and a roof over their head without worrying that either thing will go away. But for many, there is always another milestone to reach to prove that you’ve “made it”. Why is that? I am sure there is a psychologist who can tell me that it derives from unmet childhood needs or another form of trauma.
I am curious about what it would take for someone to change their tune from needing to have or achieve the next thing, to deciding that they are happy with what they have and where they are. Americans especially seem to always need to prove themselves or have the latest and greatest. But at what cost?
Look at the tech industry. I am using an 8-year-old device to write this, and it works just as well as the newest model. And I will admit, it is a device with a known lifespan of only a couple years. But I keep it updated and it still does everything I need it to. So why should I spend a lot of money on the newest device? Because it is a different size? Or maybe the features have been updated. But in the grand scheme of things, those changes don’t affect how I will use the device. The “need” for a new device comes from the desire for status symbols. I don’t personally care what year my device is from, I just need it to work. Once it doesn’t, then I look at upgrading. So, in short I use a pragmatic approach. I know so many people who don’t. They see one feature and they “have to have it”, even if they never end up using that feature before the next model comes out. Is enough enough when they are able to do that?
We can also use housing. The American Dream of a house with a white picket fence and a dog with a wife and kids now sits on 2+ acres, with so many rooms that never get used, and in an HOA where the common past time is gossip and golf. If the family works too much to enjoy the yard what is the point of that much space? Just being able to say you have it? Is it not enough to have a home that you can afford to relax in without worrying about the next payment? What about finding a community that you find friends in? How will you talk to a neighbor when you have to walk for 10 minutes just to shout at them from the edge of their fence line? When is enough, enough?
I am struggling to find my enough. I have a good job, but I live in a city with a high cost of living. Do I want to pay less to live further away from my job, or do I pay more and save myself time commuting every day? The trade off is time or money. My house is oversized, but I have space for my family to visit and it isn’t so large that rooms go unused. I have a modest yard that is dedicated almost entirely to my fur-babies. The high cost of living means I don’t get to do some of the things I enjoy, like eating out and traveling. But I don’t go hungry, and I am not at risk of losing everything and my fur-babies have more than enough to keep them entertained. So have I reached enough?
What does your “enough” look like? Is it where you thought it would be? Have you not reached it yet? Have you reached what you thought was enough, and it looked different than you expected?