This question inevitably
whittles away another word until I am left with:
“Am I enough?”
Which is, of course,
ridiculous. Quantifying emotion is about as fruitful as trying to weigh the
ocean or measure my cat’s hatred for everything on the planet. It simply can’t
be done.
Yet still, we ask the
question: “Am I enough?”
I think marketers have
recognized this desperation, this cry for validation. Almost every
advertisement I see today has this promise:
“If
you only had ________, you would be ________ enough”
· If you only had Slimfast, you would be
thin enough
· If you only had Jeep, you would be
adventurous enough
· If you only had Nike, you would be
athletic enough
·
If you only
had Scottrade, you would be rich enough
It’s the same song with different
verses. Fill in the first blank with the product, the second with the deepest
desire of your target demographic, and BANG, there’s your business. Bonus
points if you throw in a beautiful woman.
Goodman — the
obvious choice (because of the blond)
We are particularly bad at
portraying romantic relationships in this light. Like she or he could make you enough.
It’s very dangerous.
I will say this — no product or person
has ever filled the gap indefinitely. But here’s how I stay…
… Happy Enough
Here’s my weird habit.
Almost every day, I open up
my Moleskine and write the date. Just the date. After a while, I have a page
that looks like a crazy person’s journal.
This nearly obsessive
attention to the date reminds me how precious each one is. Today is July 25th, 2017. You will never get another July 25th, 2017
again. I try not to miss what’s
happening.
After all, I only get to see
it once.
…Focused Enough
“You have to stay niche as a blogger. Otherwise you’ll
be lost in the noise.”
You’ve probably heard this
one before. and then, if you’re anything like me, you tried that for about a
week, got terribly bored and, then sprinted off into the woods to do something
like grow an impressive beard and wonder if you could actually spend your life
among the trees.
But no more. Routine
desensitizes; variety rejuvenates. Do what interests you, and then find the
themes later.
In a world where
specialization is billed as king, you
are allowed to be more than one thing. I promise.
… Stressed Enough
So commonplace is chronic
stress these days that we now want nothing to do with the word.
Approximately $300 billion dollars in
America were spent on “stress related health care and missed work.” 30% of us
say we are “always” or “often” stressed at our jobs.
I’m always a bit skeptical
of random statistics I find on the internet. Taking the tape to ‘missed work’
for hundreds of billions makes
me a little wary. Still, no matter how you cut it — chronic stress is a problem. It’s easy to see how we
want to avoid the physical stress reactions as much as possible.
There’s just one issue.
Humans were made to experience stress, at least on some level. Cortisol, the
hormone largely responsible for stress, has been demonized in several reputable publications, but we largely
ignore the benefits — weight loss, improved immune system, reduced
inflammation.
IF (admittedly a big if)
stress is managed, it’s beneficial.
I dare you to scare you. Do
something which makes your heart race. In my experience, that’s where all the
good stuff happens.
…Naive Enough
By turning off the news.
I can find out what happened
around the globe in about 15 minutes. This is opposed to camping out on CNN for
4 hours.
There are real problems in
the world. Murder is happening. Injustice is happening. Stupidity is happening.
I can’t and won’t get lost in that world. Negativity is heavy. The second I
forget being alive is generally a good thing is the second I am unable to
impact the world in any way.
…Healthy Enough
I’ve said this before, but I
still think it’s useful.
The best way to stay
healthy, for most people, is to do these things:
· Eat something green once per day
· Poop regularly
· Sleep enough
·
Walk around as
often as you can
None of those things require
calculation of net calories, macro- or micronutrients, or saturated fats. When
my guts were about to fall out of my stomach, I was overwhelmed. Now, I pretty
much focus on those four things.
It’s working. I can tell
because I no longer spend days on the bathroom floor.
… Bored Enough
I think this is critical for
all creative people (read: all people).
In a culture where we tote
busy around like a status symbol and schedule every waking second of our day,
we miss out on the downtime to think. Or breathe. Or dream.
To tell you the truth, I am
awful at this. Measuring my life by output is my go-to move. Then, when I’m
forced to mow the yard and think about nothing, I come up with about 10 good
ideas.
Go figure.
…Loved Enough
Instead of writing 1,000
words about feeling like you belong, I’ll reduce this section to 23 from one of
my favorite philosophers:
“Really Hagrid, if you are holding out for universal
popularity, I’m afraid you will be in this cabin for a very long time”
— Albus Dumbledore
Instead of longing for a following
of 400,000, I’ve been trying to focus on 4. I figure if 4 people are bawling at
my funeral, I nailed it. Focus on 4.
So far, that’s been enough
One Thing I’ll Never Have Enough of…
is ideas.
Moving to a world where
robots own the tasks, creative thinking and new ideas are needed now more than
ever.
