The other night I had a dream. In this dream I felt like I was reliving a past life set in the 1880’s. I felt very young, maybe 15. I was in my parent’s home. It was simple, a one-room log cabin. My mother was at the stove cooking dinner. A man was sitting at the kitchen table. He had brought me a present, a small, ring sized, jewelry box. I turned my back towards the man and my mother and opened the box. Inside was a very thin, as wide as dental floss, gold band. That’s it? I thought. It’s not enough. It’s not big enough or grand enough.
My mother looked over her shoulder and said in a gruff voice, “It’s enough”. I slammed the box shut.
What is enough? When is enough, enough?
Somewhere logged in my brain, amongst many beliefs, is this belief that there isn’t enough. There’s a quest for more and never feeling satisfied. Most of us struggle with this in one form or another.
Maybe it’s a struggle with food and overeating. Perhaps, you exercise to the extreme and never give your body a break. Maybe you save every penny you make for fear that you won’t have enough saved when the time comes to use it. Perhaps you work all the time, making more and more money but never feeling that you’re successful. Or, you think you’re not good enough to do x, and need x, y, z before you can do it.
I went through my day yesterday thinking about this dream and wondering about it and it’s meaning in my life. I went to yoga and I was reminded again of this concept of enough as we talked about balance. As we strive to find balance throughout our lives we’re also striving to find that point of enough. How far do I push my body through the yoga poses? Is it enough to just be there in class practicing or do I need to strive to be as flexible or as good as the next person? Do you accept your limits? Do you know your point of enough?
I have found a safe place at yoga, taking my body to the point of enough. Can this practice flow into the rest of my life?
The practice of believing that there is enough and trusting that you will have everything you need is at the root of this issue.
A few years ago I was reading an interview with Gail Simmons, culinary expert and frequent devourer of food on shows like Top Chef. She was asked how she avoids gaining so much weight considering how much food is in front of her. She said she reminds herself that there will always be more food. It was a revelation to me. Of course there will always be more food! I am fortunate enough to have food and I’ve never had to go without. I don’t have an overeating problem but I have my moments when I continue to eat past the point of comfort only because the food is sitting in front of me. Somewhere the idea got in my head that this was it. Eat it all now or you will never have any more food again. It was a relief to know that I didn’t have to do that.
So how then can we shift our beliefs from this idea that we are lacking to the belief that there is enough? If we believe that there’s enough, we also stop our obsessive patterns of believing we need more. If there’s enough, you don’t need more.
There are four levels of beliefs: core, genetic, historical, and soul level. These core beliefs are the most tangible. They are taught and accepted from childhood.
The world we live in feeds this core level. The belief that there isn’t enough is fed by items like super-sized drinks (did you know there’s a 1.2 L Super Big Gulp?) & Costco sized everything. Beliefs about what we need and what is enough are everywhere. We’re blasted with it constantly.
So how do we shift these core beliefs that no longer support us? It starts with feeling our emotions. When you stop and breathe and feel what’s going on, you gain insight into why these beliefs exist. It’s also about trusting and believing you will have exactly what you need, when you need it.
Right now is a perfect time to release old beliefs. This week we had a full moon, which brings light onto these parts of our lives. We’re being asked to shed the old and make way for the new.
I love affirmations. I was fortunate enough to have parents who used them when I was growing up so I learned at a very young age their value. (Look into Louise Hay if you want to know more.)
Using affirmations can help you release old beliefs by stating new ones. Create an affirmation, using an affirmative statement such as: “I am, I have, I create, I affirm, or I choose. For example, I am enough; I am safe; I choose to step into my life with ease and abundance every day.
Repeat the affirmations every day, all day. Slowly, the old beliefs will disappear and the new beliefs will be naturally engrained into your life.
There is so much more I want to say on this topic but will share it over the coming weeks.
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