It is too much…
Let us ask you a quick question.
Have you ever been in a situation when you felt it is just too much of everything?
Surely it can be too much with work, other people, mounting stress, and simply a lot of things going on. You simply cannot go on like this anymore. It is when enough is enough. The awareness of it is the first step. Can you imagine there are millions of people who are subjected to acute stress on a daily basis without actually giving it any thought? They probably think it is simply ok to feel that overwhelmed and have that much on their plate all the time. Sounds crazy, isn’t it?
Yet according to many research studies, our life becomes more and more complex, hectic and full of chores that we need to do. Multitasking is not a skill to learn to be productive, it is a myth. It is actually a very unhealthy one – it really harms our mental health.
What to do and how to cope with this?
It is very important to have a tool at hand because this ‘it is too much’ feeling can arise quickly like a storm and then you are simply smitten.
What does one need to learn to skillfully cope with this?
Let’s get to the very basic semantics here. When we say that ‘it is too much’, we mean that these additional jobs, monies, and tasks are simply way above what we can handle. It is very probable that we do not need to do all that at all. Yes, we might earn less money or have a slightly more frugal lifestyle. Yet we may be a lot happier.
This is where the whole concept of enough comes into play. First, after realizing that it is too much, you simply say that you’ve had enough of this busyness and craziness. Enough is enough.
When is enough enough
Though to actually figure out how to get out of this vicious circle you need to find your own point of enough. It is that point where you are content. Feel that you are enough as an individual (why would you think anything different anyways?) and you have enough (money, place to live, clothes to wear, you name it). You can simply enjoy the present being in a very comfortable sense of enough. You have enough and you are enough. Clearly, you do not lack anything.
To progress further on your journey, you can employ meditation techniques. They will help you to center and feel at peace, they will guide you to the universal truths of impermanence, non-self and unsatisfactory conditions. When you contemplate on these, you cultivate your mind and feel this enormous pressure of constant busyness lifting off your shoulders. That’s when you re-discover your inner values and they start guiding you to your own point of enough. What’s enough for you? It’s very probable that you already have much more than that and you can start serving others instead of engaging in never ending rat race of more and more wealth.
What can you do if you feel that it is enough?
Be kind to yourself. Say that everyone feels like that once in a while. And that’s ok. We live in a very busy world.
Though it is a bit of a lame excuse. We choose how to live our lives. Or at least we should.
So why not you take some time for yourself and start meditating.
First, learn our basic practice of concentration meditation on breathing. Try our loving-kindness meditation (Metta) and see whether you start feeling more at ease with everything and everyone with it. Make progress with your practice with our vipassana meditation instructions. This is where you gain insights and further develop yourself and your mind based on your own intrinsic values.
That’s how your life becomes a life of enough, a place where you are content, happy and peaceful. You will want others to feel the same. Let us know!
