I can see it in other people. They have lost touch with what is enough.
o Children think they don’t have enough toys and video games.
o Couch potatoes think they don’t have enough TV channels.
o Fashionistas think they don’t have enough clothing.
o Parents think they don’t have enough activities for their children.
o Manufacturers think consumers don’t have enough choices of breakfast cereal.
o Home owners think they don’t have enough square footage.
Here’s a chart that shows the increase in the square footage of homes from the 1950’s to now. Americans used to think that 1/2 the current average square footage of a home was enough. Not now. I can see it in myself. I lose touch with what is “enough” in my life.
o I don’t have enough books or plants.
o I don’t have enough songs on my iPod, even though I have 4,400 songs.
o I don’t keep track of when I have drunk enough cosmopolitans when I go out to the Mint karaoke bar with co-workers.
o I don’t have enough camping and outdoor equipment when I shop at REI.
o I don’t have enough artisan grapes from the Farmer’s Market in the summertime.
In the dictionary "enough" is defined as “a sufficient amount to meet a need”. When my needs are met, that is enough. Grasping for things way beyond those needs is more than enough.
You bring up an interesting point in that our entire culture and economy thrives on "not enough."
ReplyDeleteWe have tons of Christmas decorations, but every year the stores are chocked full of new shiny ornaments and lights, as if there are 1,000,000 Christmas-decoration-less households of newly emancipated 21 year-olds or newlyweds setting up households, eager and waiting to buy up all the latest trends in decorating just for the holidays.
But when you stop and think about it, just how many or our own jobs would cease and desist if our culture really did adopt an "enough is enough" philosophy? My car will last me a lifetime. No more upgrades. No more add-ons. No more nothing.
But where would our next exciting emotional thrill come from if we didn't eagerly look for the next American Idol season (I mean, haven't there been enough AI's generated thus far?).
Where would our next mind-expanding experience come from if our great authors decided they'd already written enough books? Or earned enough royalties?
We thrive on "not enough." We look forward to more day after day. Not enough brings the newness and renewal we all crave as humans. It provides the reason for living.
Uh, right?
Ah, but should we ever genuinely reach that wonderful state of nirvana when we awake one morning and bask in all we need: the amazing grace of God in our lives...where we have no need for excitement or thrill from the external...we will have been raptured.