The idea of writing about “enough” came up from a personal thoughts conjunction with thoughts that do not belong to me. The idea behind “enough” is quite simple but apparently incredibly complex. It refers to our adult fears that come in different attractive colors and are quite adroit at taking us out of the present moment.

For example (in the parents’ case): eats “quite” enough? Is the child “enough” encouraged? Has the child “enough” outdoor activities? Etc.

The idea from the other’s thoughts was named “planet fear” and was referring to the universe of a 14-15 years old child.

The conjunction was created by recognizing some relatively similar thoughts, mentally constructed, mainly from cognitive projections, far from being pertinent observations of the one that is in our care. I realized the automatism behind them, the ease and amenity they are created with in order to conquer and break us off from what is really going on around us.

As it happened, I was in the subway, hence the ample opportunity to observe people caught under the sway of such projections. Later, the same behavior was found at the playground, where I increasingly notice parents’ replacement with the grandparents.

How did we get here? How did we break with the present to refuse it and to take refuge in projections? What good do they bring to us? Besides a temporary amenity, fears are real…. Yes, sometimes there are dangers, it is part of the discovery of and negotiation with the universe process, but fears are real, they do not give solutions because the event assumed by these did not occur and maybe will never happen.

The world of “enough” is very broad and one of its roots is connected with the comparison, a false competition with others, but a very common one. Found in pseudo-anthropomorphic measurements, the child next to you is subjectively “reviewed” and “valued”, and that does not stop the burst of advice. It appears in comparing the skills and abilities manifested at the playground, children are deluged with feedback or reprimands according to the controlling automatism at the time. And then it slowly slides towards the parents’ situation and social status … etc.
Often enough it happens to me too, not to give advice or to get involved, but to slip into the arms of “enough”. And yet, one of the first lessons learned, a way to return to the present moment which I got from Tolle (Eckhart Tolle), is about breathing. So I am asking myself if I am breathing, soon after, the attractiveness of “enough” increasingly fades and disappears.

I am trying now to give a positive meaning more often wondering if I am present “enough” to catch the rustle of autumn leaves when they leave the tree crowns or the birds singing in spring.

“Father, look” shouted Sara to bring me back near her with the same force, in case the world of “enough” invites me to visit it …. How about your experience, are you dealing with it?