03 June 2010

Enoughness, contemplating success

I just wrote this to sweet Elizabeth and wanted to share with all of you-- I've been thinking a LOT about what success means, and how we define when what we do is good enough. My thinking has been Big, but also small- the everyday stuff, the things that make us feel we're doing well, that we're ok, that we're contributing...that we're doing our best.
I think that growing up with an "always do your best" mantra, kinda screwed me up, since it never gave room for context: A " do your best" considering today's energy, weather, emotional balance, life complexities, relationships, health, level of extroversion, sleep adequacy...

what a difference that would have made.
What if we gave ourselves permission to do the best we can with what we have at the moment? recognizing that what we have sometimes is not very much-- not much reserve, or emotional energy...

OR

maybe, what if.. what if we give ourselves permission to do just what we need to (if we can)....

Jen Lee explored enoughness in a beautiful recent post (heck, all of her posts are beautiful), more specifically, an exploration of the bare minimum.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

my mantra of late is "try" it doesn't have to be my best effort or take all i've got, as long as I try.

Kir said...

I agree and really loved seeing this post.
To give it a Try is a success lately for me..because with all the balls in the air one might fall, but if I catch ONE...hey that one is safe in my hands.

HUGS

Anonymous said...

I like the idea of "good enough." Some tings are worth a full court press (like carefully packing your Grandmother's crystal for a cross country move); others are worth only good enough (packing her tupperware). The trick comes in recognizing the difference. And realizing that your categories for good enough change with situations.