The holidays may be over, but I still have a lot of Christmas chocolate kicking around. And as I was eating some the other day, I started thinking about the concept of ‘enough’.
I have a sweet tooth. I like chips and french fries and starchy, salty treats well enough, but given the choice I’ll go for the bowl of ice cream every time. I like sweets, and I can eat a lot of them. If I don’t pay attention, I’ll down a pint of Ben & Jerry’s without noticing. Every Halloween, without fail, I make myself sick eating tiny chocolate bars by the dozen. Even as I eat them, I think to myself, “I’m really full already. I will probably regret this later.” And yet, when faced with the prospect of another treat, I can’t restrain myself.
My body sends me lots of signals, but I don’t seem to be able to listen. It says, “OK, Amber, enough. I’ve had enough. I’m good. You can stop it with the peanut butter cups for now. In fact, if you give me more peanut butter cups, I’m not going to feel so good.” And I don’t listen. Then it says, “I’m feeling really very full here, and not so hot. Please stop.” And still, I don’t listen. I want to listen. I tell myself I should listen. But I don’t listen, because peanut butter cups are so awesome, and I might as well just finish them and remove the temptation.
My overindulgence in sweets isn’t about portion control, or weight loss, or even food. It’s more about disregarding what I know is healthy for me, and failing to recognize when enough is enough.
Perhaps I need fewer peanut butter cups, and more green beans?
I do the same thing in many other areas of my life. I play some Angry Birds on my phone to unwind. It’s fun. And then I think I should go do something else, but I don’t. Pretty soon I’ve wasted the better part of 90 minutes flinging imaginary birds at imaginary pigs, and I’m berating myself because I haven’t done the stuff I have to do. I took the game playing from ‘enough’ to ‘too much’, and I regret it.
I think that a lot of our problems stem from our failure to recognize ‘enough’. Most of us, especially most of us living in the developed world with access to the internet and computers of our own, have all that we need for our basic survival. We know where our next meal is coming from. If we couldn’t make it to the store for the next week our diet might be less than spectacular, but we wouldn’t starve. We have ‘enough’ and then some. But we still want more. We still crave that extra peanut butter cup, those extra 20 minutes playing video games, the new pair of shoes, the new kitchen gadget, the nicer car and nicer home and nicer life.
For 2011, I’ve chosen the word ‘space’ to set my intentions for the year. I want to find space in my life to breathe, space in my life for the things that are important to me, and space in my life for myself. I think that a big part of finding this space will be learning to recognize ‘enough’. If I can simplify, slow down and listen to that part of me that’s wiser than I often let on, I think maybe I can find the space I need. I can stop overdoing it, and start recognizing the truth of the situation.
This year, for me, will be about simplifying and finding ‘enough’. I will probably still eat too many sweets, and spend too much time playing video games. But maybe, slowly, I can find my way to a more healthy place. I bet I can. I can find ‘enough’. I know I already have it, if I open my eyes to see.
What about you? Do you ever find yourself overdoing it and failing to recognize when enough is enough? How do you overcome that? I’d love to hear!
Twitter: CBerbs
says:
What is it about enough??? I have felt the same way. Whether it be food or something I’m doing to relax (or waste time) or even sleeping, I have definitely had the experience you are describing.
Lately, I’ve been trying to recognize too much before it becomes too much. Like you said, it isn’t always a matter of weight loss or calories or anything in particular other than just ‘too much.’ I’ve also found that having too much of something leaves me with less of something else. I wish I would think that out ahead of time!
I’m great at all or nothing. I can either eat all the peanut butter cups I want or I can avoid them all together. It’s moderation or enough that I’m not good at.
I am really bad at recognizing enough. I don’t hear the signals my body and brain screams at me, so I go on to do more, more, more.
Summer’s latest post..Finding Myself in 2011
With food it’s not an issue so much (but I will chose chocolate for lunch if given the option!). But with belongings! Now there is where I need to put “space” to work:
SPACE
Sort
Purge
Assign a Home
Contain
Equalize
(I think Julie Morgenstern wrote that accronym)