More Than Enough

By Jo Mooy

Detaching from the drama and the extremes of appearances allows us to see how we are all sustained, supported and thrive as one connected being.

The word enough seems like it’s well, enough. But is it? Its origin comes from Olde English meaning sufficient in quantity or for a purpose, meaning there’smore than enough for everyone. But that’s not the case, plus it’s developed other meanings. When fed up parents yell, “Enough!” to squabbling children, it’s fair warning mom means she’s had it with all of you.

The great upheaval with Covid pierced a sharp chasm into human consciousness. Fears, greed and hatred assaulted truth and facts. Extremist views dominated the conversations and press reports. Social media broad-brushed the world into opposing camps. The constant barrage of negativity made everyone mentally and emotionally scream, “Enough!” It had the same meaning as the fed up parents. Enough! I’ve had it with all of you!

Michael Jackson sang a song, “Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough!” Enough what? Was it a call to over-saturation? To keep adding to the inventory of stuff? Thinking about it in the context of Thanksgiving this month, maybe enough has still another meaning. Over the last three years I found my need for consumption (not the disease) and accumulating things had significantly tapered off. I looked around the house and concluded I had more than enough. I didn’t need most of the material stuff that I had so got rid of lots of it.

What I did not have enough of was human contact. I missed the kind of contact where friends can sit together quietly in each other’s company over a cup of tea. I needed the kind of contact where a smile lights up someone’s face and causes yours to respond the same. I longed for the kind of contact where a remembered experience between old friends erupts into gales of laughter. Maybe there’s never enough of that kind of contact.

But sitting with the word enough I thought about what I did have enough of. I have someone who loves me and never hesitates to tell me. I live in a safe neighborhood in a temperate climate with the wonders of my garden to enliven me. I get a daily reminder that gratefulness, the act of being in a state of giving thanks, doesn’t have to occur only on the third Thursday in November. Rather, it can be an every morning prayer.

Zen Master Shunryu Suzuki said, “To live life is enough!” That simple phrase is more than enough to guide my passage. The act of being grateful focuses me on all the little things of a life that says I do have enough! A dying orchid that responds to my care and puts out a tiny purple and white blossom is enough. An unexpected text from a grandson saying he was thinking about me is enough. YouTube videos where I learned to propagate basil from one leaf, plant renewable green onions, or fix a broken toilet handle is enough. That state of gratefulness seeped into the other parts of my life and became dominant. There was nothing I wasn’t grateful for and the state of gratefulness gently moved into one of daily happiness and joyfulness in the enough-ness of my life.

The slowing down of the past three years proved to me that every soul on this bountiful planet has more than enough and that developing a state of gratefulness will prove it. If we get over ourselves (and surely we will) there’s more than enough to support and sustain and share with everyone. Don’t think so? If you’re reading this, be grateful for the computer or smartphone that allows you to do that. Or the eyes that see with or without glasses. Or the trees that keep you alive by producing oxygen.

Despite perceptions, the Earth is always in balance. If she swings out of kilter, she’s a sentient being that knows exactly how to rebalance herself. What we see outwardly and take to be facts are actually extremes in duality that have judgments assigned to them. Dualities like fire and water, heat and cold, love and hate, truth and lies, up and down, black and white are only poles of the same thing. If you see a cup, acknowledge it as a cup. If the cup is large, or small, or blue, or clay, ignore the outward appearances and let it simply be a cup. Fire and water are elements. Heat and cold are temperatures. Love and hate, truth and lies are emotions. Up and down are directions. Black and white are colors. They’re all cups without a value or judgment assigned to them.

Detaching from the drama and the extremes of appearances allows spaciousness to open up. In that space, it’s much easier to see how we are all sustained, supported and thrive as one connected being. If you don’t think so, remove one single element and watch the system collapse. Living our lives in states of gratefulness, in a place of Thanksgiving for what’s around us, will seal the knowledge that there’s more than enough to go around. It’s a daily practice that can reap immense joy, not just once a year on the third Thursday in November!

Jo Mooy has studied with many spiritual traditions over the past 40 years. The wide diversity of this training allows her to develop spiritual seminars and retreats that explore inspirational concepts, give purpose and guidance to students, and present esoteric teachings in an understandable manner. Along with Patricia Cockerill, she has guided the Women’s Meditation Circle since January 2006 where it has been honored for five years in a row as the “Favorite Meditation” group in Sarasota, FL, by Natural Awakenings Magazine. Teaching and using Sound as a retreat healing practice, Jo was certified as a Sound Healer through Jonathan Goldman’s Sound Healing Association. She writes and publishes a monthly internationally distributed e-newsletter called Spiritual Connections and is a staff writer for Spirit of Maat magazine in Sedona. For more information go to http://www.starsoundings.com or email jomooy@gmail.com.

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