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Having Enough!
The key to personal freedom
Created on 2005-04-02 16:31:19 (#6665168), last updated 2009-05-03
463 comments received
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Basic Info| Name: | 'Nuffism: the philosophy of having enough |
|---|---|
| Location: | Seattle, Washington, United States |
| Membership: | Open |
| Posting Access: | All Members |
AboutThis community is for those who would be (or possibly already are?) free of the onerous need to 'get ahead' in the world — in an economic sense. For it is exactly that 'need' which squeezes the very life out of our being. It wastes our time, grieves our soul, shreds the delight of every lovely day, rips up relationships, and hacks away at the dreams that keep us going through it all.
Yes . . . the dreams. Or to focus it more succinctly, the great American Dream, a term born in the Great Depression, as a hopeful, promising counter-thrust at a time when not much else was available. But then it was picked up as a useful prod by the marketing industry. One of the Great American Gimmicks that could keep people buying and buying, and buying.
I was powered by that Dream for the first 42 years of my life. Until I finally realized it had long-since stopped being a dream for me; it had become a nightmare. It had robbed me of what should have been the best years of my life . . . years that might have been devoted to exploring who I was, and what I could be. Instead, I'd been preoccupied with getting the money to buy what I wanted, in a flow of advertising promises that I could never keep up with.
Does it sound like a familiar predicament?
It doesn't have to take 42 years to wake up from that nightmare. It does require an entirely different approach to 'things' and what they mean to you. Because the problem has nothing to do with how to get enough, it's all about the meaning of enough — which turns out to be a very personal thing for each one of us. What you finally decide is the meaning of enough will completely determine how much of 'enough' you've got. And a lot more of your life, along with it.
I, of course, tend to push a certain view of 'enough', which has contributed significantly to the wonderful life I've lived since I was 42. But this community is for open discussion of the topic, and anyone is free to challenge that view — so long as they'll be open to my rejoinder.
We can discuss any aspect of 'having enough' that anyone cares to bring up. But I hope we'll stay centered on having enough instead of getting enough, which – as I've already said – is not the issue at all.
Your community host,
Irv Thomas
(aka 'oldefool')
Yes . . . the dreams. Or to focus it more succinctly, the great American Dream, a term born in the Great Depression, as a hopeful, promising counter-thrust at a time when not much else was available. But then it was picked up as a useful prod by the marketing industry. One of the Great American Gimmicks that could keep people buying and buying, and buying.
I was powered by that Dream for the first 42 years of my life. Until I finally realized it had long-since stopped being a dream for me; it had become a nightmare. It had robbed me of what should have been the best years of my life . . . years that might have been devoted to exploring who I was, and what I could be. Instead, I'd been preoccupied with getting the money to buy what I wanted, in a flow of advertising promises that I could never keep up with.
Does it sound like a familiar predicament?
It doesn't have to take 42 years to wake up from that nightmare. It does require an entirely different approach to 'things' and what they mean to you. Because the problem has nothing to do with how to get enough, it's all about the meaning of enough — which turns out to be a very personal thing for each one of us. What you finally decide is the meaning of enough will completely determine how much of 'enough' you've got. And a lot more of your life, along with it.
I, of course, tend to push a certain view of 'enough', which has contributed significantly to the wonderful life I've lived since I was 42. But this community is for open discussion of the topic, and anyone is free to challenge that view — so long as they'll be open to my rejoinder.
We can discuss any aspect of 'having enough' that anyone cares to bring up. But I hope we'll stay centered on having enough instead of getting enough, which – as I've already said – is not the issue at all.
Your community host,
Irv Thomas
(aka 'oldefool')
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2ravens, a_wags, acesspadesdice, ahwannabe, ailina_saenz, aki_no_kitsune, amacmillian, ample_for_gada, andnothinghurtt, animusinsolitus, aries_yo, autumnisabel, awholeone, badmonkey77, baka_kit, bar0ness_m, betweenclark, billiejeanne, blot, blue5583, blue_chicory, bocaenfuego, brbrbrad, brianinspace, by_steph, cataclysms, chekhovian, choctawgirl, cinzybee517, cool__kitty, coraljune, crayonpeople, crimsonbeyond, crm17, daria2, debbie_b, devious_angel3, eatmyveggies, elaine_hev, eldritchwood, ersartzsuperjew, euro_in_america, faeriecross, fictish, fictive_vein, fija, findyourfloor, fix_it_now, flying_blind, fractalwolf, freegandotinfo, fruitsicle, gimblegyre, hannademaster, hippieintrainin, janamon, jenfer47, jenstclair, johnnydtractive, july31st, kaisenji, kazeldya8, kdizzogg, knickertwister, kristy2078, ladyblueberry48, ladymurmur, layna_finance, leave_the_cave, lemur_man, lessmess, lexica510, lias_colon, littlebluenote, littledragonfly, lochka, lovelydelusion, lunaesia, lunesse, malefica_v, meryatem, mi_shlomit, milehighgrandma, mischievous_elf, miss_sara_no_h, mistykins, moralxdilemma, mski412, mysterious_elle, nationelectric, natsumen, nunnehi, oaktavia, okko, oldefool, oldetexian, pahoan, paper_beat_rock, partsandnoises, peregrin8, photograce, photosprout, pinkbruise, prescrptionlove, pseudoyoink, ra_the_bold, rabbit_howls, ravenstormcrow, robing, roesia, sacredchao, sakura__sky, sardineofcan, sassyfrau, seancake, secondbushome, singsingasong, sirenewitch, sleepdebtfairy, softstarz, spencer_diehard, stacyinthecity, stewickie, surferelf, sushil_yadav, suzylou, swirlscape, tangerine_love, theearthisface, thosebastards, traces, tracyandrook, trampledlilly, umadoshi, vbseth, verdelite, veritybliss, wabash, welfare_bum, whitez, windravyn, xgrrrl1, zhyndra
