Enough is Enough

The secret of life is to know when enough is enough.
- Dr. Vincent Ryan

Gratitude makes us feel like we have "enough", instead of constantly being in a state of looking for "something else". As Emmet Miller notes in "Gratitude:A Way of Life, Gratitude has to do with feeling full, complete, adequate - we have everything we need and deserve and approach the world with a sense of value."

Addictions of all sorts come from a sense of deprivation, a feeling of lack that the user believes can be filled with a substance or activity, whether it's drugs, shopping, alcohol or food. Caught up in lack, we feed the need but never feel truly satisfied because our substance of choice can't fill the lack...consequently we continue to want more and more.

Our consumer society owes its very existence to to its ability to fuel a sense of never being satisfied. If we were happy about the way we looked, for example, why would we spend billions on cosmetics and plastic surgery? Or on expensive cars that supposedly convey a certain image that we don't have?

An attitude of gratitude gets us off the treadmill and out of the rat race. As we cultivate a true and deep appreciation for what we do have, we realize that our sense of lack is, for the most part, an illusion. No matter our material circumstances, the richness of our soul is ultimately what brings happiness, not another Martini, bigger breasts, or the latest video game. In the words of Lao Tzu, "He who knows enough is enough will always have enough."