Enough

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This unique little house was next door to our Airbnb in Maine a few years ago, and I was completely fascinated by it. There was something about that rickety cabin that was somehow so inviting. I could imagine other people driving right past it, seeing an old, weathered structure that should probably be torn down and replaced with something bigger, newer and fancier.

But I saw it in all its glory, simple, quirky, imperfect and, somehow, enough.

Enough.

It might be one of life’s most important words. Having enough. Being enough. Knowing when enough is enough. And yet, we seem to spend so much of our lives reaching for more. More money, more things, more accomplishments, more recognition, more of everything. But when do we finally stop and say, This is enough. I have enough. I am enough...I've done enough?

Many people probably think I started writing this blog as a quest to wear a different dress every day for an entire year. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Sure, I had fun chronicling my wardrobe, one dress after another, but the blog actually came to life because I needed a way to refocus myself each day, to deliberately practice gratitude, notice the little things, and continually recenter my priorities.

I made a conscious decision from the very beginning not to write about my day job. After all, we all do something to earn a paycheck, and sometimes that something takes up a very large portion of our day. But I never wanted work to become the center of my life, or the main character in my story.

We all spend hours working, but that shouldn’t be the whole story of who we are.

Now that we’ve clarified that…sometimes it is overwhelmingly difficult not to write about all the goings-on during my day. Lately, life at work has become increasingly stressful, complicated and, at times, downright consuming. It takes some serious effort to leave it at the door and redirect my attention toward the life I actually want to be living.

So when this old photo of that simple little Maine house popped up, small, weathered, full of windows and sitting beside a welcoming dirt road, it felt like a gentle reminder.

How little do we really need?

Maybe the answer is simply…enough.

Enough house. Enough stuff. Enough accomplishments. Enough chasing. Enough proving. Enough worrying about what comes next.

Enough is enough, in more ways than one.

So I’m choosing to turn my attention back toward the center: the life I’ve built, the amazing family and friends who surround me, the laughter, the beach days, the Mahjong tables, the memories, and my wonderfully imperfect old house filled with things I love and people I love even more.

When I stop long enough to really look at it, I realize I already have what matters most.

I’d say that’s enough.

And maybe that’s the real lesson in this little Maine cabin: sometimes the most beautiful life isn’t the biggest, fanciest or newest one. Sometimes it’s the one that feels like home.

Change seems to be in the air, and perhaps that’s okay, too. As things shift around me, I’m reminding myself that I don’t need to chase after everything. I just need to recognize what I already have, and be grateful that, for this moment, it is enough.

“He who is contented is rich.”
— Lao Tzu