Enough is Enough...

Thinking about enough right now.

How much is enough?

How much is too much?

How much is not quite enough?

How does this vary from person to person and time period to time period?

It's just Brent and me in our house. We've got 1800 square feet on three floors. Four bedrooms, though we use one for an office, it's never been used as a bedroom. Three bathrooms. Three TVs.  Two living room sets. More than we need. More than we use. But I still look around and think, Oh I want to add this. Or that. Or one more of that. How much is enough?

I have on my Kindle enough books to last me the rest of the year. Plus I have 8 books on hold at the library. And I have a list of books that I want to go back and reread, or that I know are coming out and I will want to read when that happens. But I still bought a new book yesterday because it was a good price and it looked interesting. Who knows when I will actually read it, but I will read it. Eventually.

Clothes. I have more clothes than I could wear in a week. And I do laundry every week so do I need more? And to be honest I tend to wear the same things over and over. The favorites. But I still ordered a couple new workout tanks today.

Now, of course it's Spring and Spring Cleaning always makes me evaluate these things. And reading the book on tidying up made me look at my things with a critical eye. And there is also knowing that May will probably be a big cleaning month after we get back from New Mexico. And then of course there is the new couch and the new water heater and the other household projects along with the big tax bill. It's all so much.

But is it enough?

The tax bill was more than enough. Just to be clear. It was really too much, actually. But definitely more than enough.

How about the rest of it?

Did we need all of it? No. Not really. Could we do with less than we have? For sure. We have in the past and probably will again eventually. I imagine at some point in our old age we will end up in a small place that's easy to take care of. But for now we decided to stay here so we wanted to make this place...well...enough.

Enough that we didn't feel like we made the wrong choice to stay. So the off set to a nice outdoor space is great indoor space. The off set to living out in the country away from everyone else means some blackout curtains would be good. The off set to not being on the beach (just yet) is a giant soaking tub that needed more hot water to fill it than our old water heater could provide. The downstairs space is cozy and comfortable and makes that formerly just empty room useful. And not just useful, but nice to be in.

Clothes. I don't want to always wear the same things. So even though day to day I tend to wear the same it's nice to have other choices when I want them. And right now I'm not happy with my weight (shocking) so it's pretty normal behavior for me to only grab the same things over and over. I know they are fine. Don't want the surprise of something not fitting the way I want it to.

Books. Well I am always going to have a larger TBR stack that I will ever get to in my lifetime. That is just the way the world works. But I don't have too many, that's just crazy talk. I possibly have more than enough...but also not quite enough. There are books published every day, so there is no way to keep up. You just do what you can.

But it's not just things. It's personality too. How much is enough and how much is too much?

Like, I know I'm a lot. I have odd personality things (see entire blog above) that tend to make me kind of neurotic at times. I am opinionated, and not even ashamed of that. I don't do demure well. I don't do, "oh no, you're obviously right and I'm wrong" unless someone is obviously right and I'm wrong, then I'm really good at it. But you have to actually be right.

I laugh loudly and often. I'm touchy. Like literally I touch you when I talk to you. Though I do a lot of holding my own hands so I don't CONSTANTLY touch you, because I know for a lot of people that is too much. But for me? I would rest a hand on you the whole time and that would probably be enough.

But I've been told by more than one person (fewer than 100 I'm sure) that I am a bit much. That I should do things differently. More low key. Less. But would that even be me then? Like Denise Lite now with Less. I don't think so.

So what is enough?

What is too much?

I don't think there is a standard answer to that.

For me, I will always walk that line. Clearing things out that don't work for me anymore. Adding things in that I think will. Looking for the balance of what is enough. For me.

Right now that means finishing this up and reading one of those books on my Kindle that might be tipping me over to too many...

Because I have a new release book coming tomorrow, need to make room.