Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Romans 12:2 (MSG)

Not Enough – The Change Your Mind Series – Part 2

Go to PART 1  |  PART 2  |  PART 3  |  PART 4  |  PART 5  |  PART 6  |  PART 7

Scarcity is the idea that there is not enough to go around. We live in a culture permeated with this idea: There’s not enough money, time, land, resources, housing, jobs, titles, hospital beds… you name it, there’s not enough of it. So instead of measuring our usage and expenditure of resources, we scurry to accumulate as much of them as we can before it all runs out. It sounds extreme, but when I analyze my life, I find that idea clinging on to all different parts of it.

Last year, when Christmas was well on its way, I was thinking about what gifts I should by my kids, and those I love. Earlier last year, Jesse (husband) and I listened to a podcast interviewing Joshua Becker from www.becomingminimalist.com, and he inspired us to make some changes with our gift giving.

You've probably heard me say it already, but whenever I buy birthday or Christmas gifts for my kids, I’m challenged with the idea of whether or not I have gotten them enough.

“Will my kids feel ripped off if I don’t buy them more? I should be getting them something bigger, something brighter… something more expensive… or just something more…”

Joshua Becker explained that they give their kids three things: Something they want, something they need, and an experience to share. And while this idea doesn’t have to resonate with everyone, it resonated with us. I’m resolved in my plan, but still, I’m plagued with thoughts that I’m doing enough for them.

Josh explains on his website that over the years, his children have learned:

– That we don’t need to buy things to be happy.
– That we don’t need to live life like everyone else.
– That we live within our means.
– That we think carefully about our purchases.
– That we gladly share with others.
– That clutter is a drag.
– That we love spending time with them.
– That we are in control of our stuff. Not the other way around.

SO, we’re giving Josh’s idea a go.

Advertising and marketing campaigns aim squarely at your vulnerabilities. Its message is that you that don’t have enough, that you would be better off with more, and that this particular item will increase your life satisfaction. Scarcity tells us that there is not enough, we are not enough, and we need to do more and be more.

And so we consume and conform, consume and conform…

In her book, “The Soul of Money” Lynne Twist said:

“For me, and for many of us, our first waking thought of the day is “I didn’t get enough sleep.” The next one is “I don’t have enough time.” Whether true or not, that thought of not enough occurs to us automatically before we even think to question or examine it. We spend most of the hours and the days of our lives hearing, explaining, complaining, or worrying about what we don’t have enough of… Before we even sit up in bed, before our feet touch the floor, we’re already inadequate, already behind, already losing, already lacking something. And by the time we go to bed at night, our minds race with a litany of what we didn’t get, or didn’t get done, that day. We go to sleep burdened by those thoughts and wake up to the reverie of lack.“

The reason I love Josh’s message is that it's counter-cultural to the idea that more is better, and we need more at any cost. We spend all this time and money building our own little empires, but to what end?

There’s an idea out there permeating your life and mine. It says that you don’t have enough, that you need more. It says that you aren’t enough, and you need to be more and do more.

But “don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking.”

We need inner transformation – a change of mind – about the things that really matter if we want to change the world. Huge change starts as small as that.

Go to Part 3 – Cut the Corners »

Written by Lizzy Milani
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