After working with this phrase (“That’s enough now”) for a couple of days, and gently reducing some compulsiveness, I had the following realisation in the shower: ‘This is enough. This pretty home, this gentle lifestyle, this warm water on my back, this work-life, this sunshine pouring into the garden….‘ What? A break from straining, pulling, seeking something more or different? Yes! I think I could have passed ‘peak push’. I think I could be on the other side of the straining to overcome the challenges of my early adulthood. The tide of my life has turned…
Are your present conditions substantially different from your earlier adulthood?
Yes! I was in a state of literal poverty even this time last year. I had precious dependents, who suddenly stepped into independence just recently. For much of my adult life I have been without a partner, and now I have this incredible, startling human in my life. So, yes, I can say I am in a different paradigm entirely.
What I hadn’t noticed was that I hadn’t turned off the ‘push’ mechanism. This needs to be done consciously and gradually, it feels. It takes the mind a lot reassurance and rewiring to decommission its ‘push powers‘… and settle into the still wonder of the dawning realisation that ‘This is enough’.
The mind might say: “Beware of stopping, or resting on your laurels! It could all run out or vanish!” It takes the heart to step in and say, “Hush now, Mind… It’s time to bask in the beauty of what is.”
You’ve always been somewhat aware of the beauty of what is, but it’s maybe true to say that you were simultaneously equally aware of a sense of precariousness.
Hugely so! I guess the sense of precariousness came from a combination of single parenthood, my aspieness, varying mental health, the post-Crunch economy, political turmoil, natural disaster…
Easy tiger! 🙂
So how do you apply the phrase ‘That’s enough now’ with the new insight about having arrived at an abundant place in your life?
It manifests in a sense of ‘I couldn’t want for anything more’. G and I went on a beautiful walk yesterday, and I kept feeling a sense of ‘Wow. This is so good. My exhausted younger self would be so reassured and delighted to see this future sight.’ It was just the two of us strolling through fields.
No jazzhands.
No freaking jazzhands. *sigh of relief* This has been a LONG road, hasn’t it? I still notice myself jazzhanding, eg on social media in my ‘professional’ persona, but at the moment it feels like my best approach to taking advantage of the free marketing opportunities available through social media. It makes me uncomfortable though…
Maybe ‘that’s enough self-broadcasting now’?
Yes. Maybe it is. Like G, with his blank website holding a logo, a contact form and nothing else.
I like your use of ‘That’s Enough xyz Now’. What else have I had or done enough of now?
Perhaps ‘That’s enough being overweight now?’
Is it? Maybe it continues to serve a purpose.
Explain please.
Your weight has always acted as a safety barrier between you and the world. You have used it carefully and consciously. Similarly, you’ve noticed the sense of vulnerability arising in you when you’ve become slim – people act differently towards you, they seem to want something different from you. What would you need to change to feel safe to be slim in the world?
I feel this has something to do with the previous two lessons of ‘Everything is AOK’ and ‘This is Enough’. Is it about recognising:
- I am truly safe in this world?
- I have / do / am enough?
- There is enough for me?
Tell me…
For a while you became like a helium balloon, straining to leave the earth’s surface and float up and away.
Go home…
It was a trauma response, dear soul: a deep flight response. You needed to use weight to keep the balloon fixed to the Earth. You were straining between two states: flee and remain.
Rather like Brexit! :-/
You joke, but Brexit (and Trump) have been profound manifestations of this extreme polarisation which accompanies and precedes the rise of unity consciousness. It is natural to tighten the grip on known polarities in the midst of almighty change. When the sands shift, we grab on to what is present. Here we mean present as in, ‘to hand’, and also ‘current’, as in the ‘current status quo’. As our feet shift further from the original state, we strain to keep hold of that ‘safe’ former state.
How does this apply to me and my body?
As you have played with ‘flight’ from this world (absorbing yourself in matters spiritual and esoteric) and, simultaneously, have clung to the world (using weight to keep you ‘present’), you have become tired (and overweight). The opportunity now arises to make peace with life on Earth, exactly as you find it. Yes, everything is AOK. Yes, this is enough. Yes, everything is enough. Yes, this is AOK.
Is this about getting grounded?
Roughly speaking. It is about ceasing to flee life or grasp life.
Man, this is Zen-speak!
Bingo.
I just wanted to know how to lose weight.
Well, now you know.
😀 Haha. Thank you. Practically speaking…?
Make peace with life on Earth – in all its simplicity, its reality, its enoughness, its perfectness, its complexity, its whackiness… No more complaining, rejecting, straining, judging, scoring. Learn to accept and be with Life on Earth.
I am making peace with life on earth (neither fleeing nor grasping)
