If you knew how much is enough, you could enjoy a great deal of freedom and contentment. Having enough material things means that you don’t need to get anything more. That is unless you need to replace something. But many people have a hard time knowing how much is enough to make them happy. This is because they haven’t defined what is enough or decided what makes them happy. To answer this question, we will start by defining what is enough and looking at some of our needs. We will also look at what it means to have enough to be happy. We will then look at how some people realize how much is enough.
Defining what is enough
Having enough means having what is necessary to meet your needs. In this case, it is to meet your needs for happiness. To understand this, we need to know some of the different types of needs:
Survival needs
Your survival needs are the minimum things you need to keep you alive. This minimum is both in the type and amount of things. This is not about maintaining comfort. These needs include food, hydration, air, shelter, sleep, and necessary healthcare.
Comfort needs
Your comfort needs are similar in type to your survival needs. The difference is that your comfort needs are often greater than your survival needs. So you can’t be comfortable unless you are meeting your survival needs. For example, you won’t feel comfortable if you are dying of thirst.
There is also a comfort limit. This is because extras won’t add comfort once you meet your comfort needs. Here are some examples:
If you are full, eating more will not make you more comfortable.
If your room is at the right temperature, making it warmer or cooler will not add comfort.
If you are comfortable sleeping on a full-sized bed, you don’t need a king-sized one.
These show that trying to increase comfort when you are already comfortable will waste resources.
Emotional needs
Your emotional needs are very important to your happiness. They include things like the following:
Doing and experiencing things you enjoy
Spending time with people you enjoy being around
Doing things that make you feel good about yourself
Enjoying moments of tranquility
Counting and appreciating your good fortunes
These are not material things. Instead, they are activities and attitudes. It means that material things can only help to meet your emotional needs if they support these activities. So, a cellphone can help if you use it to set up meetings with people you like.
Status “needs”
These are not really things you need, but many believe they need them to maintain social status. The problem is that social status is measured relative to others. So those who chase social status will have to compete for it. Using status symbols means that you will have to keep up with others or outdo them.
This lifestyle does not make people happy. In fact, it makes them insecure. So, many people try to “keep up with the Joneses” to avoid being left behind. But the only people who get ahead in this scenario are the merchants who profit from it. Also, people who chase status symbols only end up looking insecure.
Having enough to be happy
Having enough to make you happy demands 2 things. The first is having enough to meet your comfort needs. The second is having enough to meet your emotional needs. As I said, trying to increase your comfort won’t work if you are already comfortable. So you might as well focus on your emotional needs at that point. Also, you satisfy your emotional needs with your activities and attitudes. Material things can only help if you use them to do these activities. So, it’s not the material things that make you happy. It’s what you do with them that counts.
Figuring out how much is enough
In the quest to have enough, many people start off with what they consider to be “not be enough”. They then acquire things in the hopes of someday having enough. Yet, they still don’t think they have enough long after they have too many things. So, they have failed to figure out how much is enough.
Some people realize that they have too many things. So they stop buying unnecessary things and start removing things they don’t use. As they do this, they notice that they have more money, time, and space. Also, their homes will look better, feel more tranquil, and be easier to clean. The improvement in quality of life as they reduce things confirms that they had too many. They eventually reach a point when they run out of useless things to discard. At this point, they know they have enough. If something needs replacing, they replace it and they are back to having enough again.
This is when they realize that further happiness cannot come from material things. It must come from meeting their emotional needs. Some people will feel great contentment from this knowledge. Others will feel empty. But even the ones who feel empty will learn to pursue their emotional needs. Eventually, they will also feel content.
In summary, knowing how much is enough means knowing your needs and what it takes to meet them. In this case, we are referring to your needs in order to be happy. Having enough to be happy means having what it takes to meet your comfort and emotional needs. Once you meet your comfort needs, extras will not add comfort. Also, your activities are more important than material things for meeting your emotional needs. Knowing how much is enough can pave the way to great contentment. People who think they don’t have enough often have difficulty realizing when they do. But people who realize they have too many things find it easier to learn how much is enough.