Enough

Does peace come when we have what we long for or do the things we long for come when we find peace? I ask myself, “what is it that drives my needs? Why am I so preoccupied with the things I do not have, or the things other people embody?” How can I get free of this unquenchable need for the next thing I don’t have? “I will be happy, if only I could have ….. I would be healed if only I had access to ….. I would be generous if only I had enough …..”

When will it be enough? One of my mentor’s shared a haunting word of truth with me earlier this year and it comes to mind every time the thought process described above begins to take up space in my head. He said; “The less I need the more I’m free.” As I write this post I have had some issues keeping on body weight. No matter how much I eat I can’t seem to keep it. Worse, I can’t help but compare myself to others…to their bodies and to their situations.. and I find myself thinking how being someone else or having what they have would make me happy, healthy and whole. Maybe, in all areas of my life-including the physical, I am being offered freedom from my own perceived needs. Maybe… or at the very least perhaps I am finding freedom from the greed of comparison which eats away at my soul and my gratitude. If that is the case I know I can pray boldly, and that is the prayer I will share with you today:

Oh God, my rock and my redeemer; you who created everything that exists from nothing. My prayer is to be filled with the freedom of needing less.

Reveal those things I don’t need (pause)