Enough

The idea of "enough" has come up for me a few times lately; most notably in the documentary I Am and in the book The Outliers.

Both sources talk about the balance of having enough of something; I Am related it to material possessions and The Outliers is speaking to intelligence. There is a certain amount of any given thing that is ideal, and if you possess amounts beyond that there is either no significant difference, or their is a negative difference.

Take material possession, for example. It is definitely beneficial to have shelter, enough food, warmth, and a sustainable number of usable objects like dishes, somewhere comfortable to sleep, et cetera. But beyond "enough," we start possessing more than we need. That's when we run into trouble. When cells in our body takes more than they need, we call it "cancer." Sure the cancer is doing great, having a ball, multiplying... but the rest of the body is suffering. If we think of the globe as an organism, with all of the living things being connected, as in a body, we can see how this becomes an issue. Those of us with more than we need are taking resources from some of the rest of us. When native tribes saw this attribute in early white colonists, they considered it a mental illness. I see their point.

I suppose it might be difficult is to figure out exactly how much really is enough for you, or your family. I think this takes some pretty radical authenticity and flexibility and being nonjudgemental, and that the answer will be different for everyone. I don't think it's our right to judge other people's answers, although I think it's always ok to compassionately question.

In terms of intelligence, there is a point (exactly where that point is is debatable) when adding more IQ points just doesn't matter. At that point you are able to do whatever you want to do. Additional thinking is just a fun game, but so is Monopoly and it doesn't serve a whole lot of purpose either.

I suspect this concept of enough applies to all aspects of living. Maybe it's what is meant by "moderation in all things." I mean, if you eat more or less than enough you become unhealthy. If you work more or less than enough; unhealthy. Sleep more or less than enough; unhealthy. If you have too many friends or too few, your social self suffers.

I intend to spend time thinking about what "enough" means for me, in various aspects of my life, and then making plans on how to get there. I expect to find myself a lot happier for it.

UPDATE:
Someone just shared this with me via a private response, and I think it was pretty profound: "The cure for too many resources is to share with others.  Likewise, the cure for extra intellect and talents is to share them with others."