If you ask most people on the street, they will tell you that they do want to learn to experience the satisfaction of enough. Very few people wouldn’t want to be better at being “in the moment” and enjoying what’s right there in front of them because they feel complete or well. However, saying that you want to experience the satisfaction of enough and then being able to actually do it are two different things. One of the reasons that it’s so difficult is that we’re mentally trained to not stop in the moment and enjoy the feelings of satisfaction. We’re trained from a very young age to always accomplish more, and, in our current society, accomplishing more is almost synonymous with acquiring more. But what can we do in order to help ourselves experience the satisfaction of enough when we’ve been trained to always be looking ten steps ahead? Here are five tips!
Consciously Stop: The first step is to take little steps during the day. Compel yourself to consciously stop once an hour or every other hour and think about something that happened in that last hour or two that made you feel satisfied. If you entice yourself to take these tiny mental breaks, you’ll find yourself being more aware of those satisfying moments when they’re actually happening.
Keep a Journal: We’ve talked before on this blog about the importance of keeping a journal. Writing, or drawing or whatever the best communication format is for you, helps you remember and appreciate the moments and things that made you satisfied all over again. It also makes them more real and tangible to you.
Meditation and Yoga: Meditation and yoga aren’t for everybody, but they are practices that help you learn to slow down your brain. Slowing down your brain is what we’re ultimately after here so that you can appreciate more as it happens.
Hold Others Responsible: It may seem counterintuitive, but if you hold others responsible for being satisfied with enough, it will start to come more naturally and easily to you as well because you’ll be on the lookout for those “moments” more!
Have People Hold You Responsible: Similarly, make sure that your support network knows to hold you responsible for finding the satisfaction of enough. If they catch you falling back into old behaviors, have them hold you accountable.
Learning to enjoy the satisfaction of enough isn’t as simple as saying that you’re going to do it. Like any change in your life, it requires practice and training. However, the rewards for learning to let go of consumerism and enjoy the realness of life are well worth it!
