Just enough

[Daddydavek]

I found the following story inspiring. Especially in our present consumer culture which pushes the acquisition of more and more and the latest and greatest no matter the social, economic or ecological cost.

 

 

 

Recently I overheard a father and daughter in their last moments together at the airport. They had announced the departure.

 

Standing near the security gate, they hugged and the father said, 'I love you, and I wish you enough.'

 

The daughter replied, 'Dad, our life together has been more than enough. Your love is all I ever needed. I wish you enough, too, Dad.'

 

They kissed and the daughter left. The Father walked over to the window where I was seated. Standing there I could see he wanted and needed to cry. I tried not to intrude on his privacy, but he welcomed me in by asking, 'Did you ever say good-bye to someone knowing it would be forever?'

 

'Yes, I have,' I replied. 'Forgive me for asking, but why is this a forever good-bye?'..

 

'I am old, and she lives so far away. I have challenges ahead and the reality is - the next trip back will be for my funeral,' he said.

 

'When you were saying good-bye, I heard you say, 'I wish you enough..' May I ask what that means?'

 

He began to smile. 'That's a wish that has been handed down from other generations. My parents used to say it to everyone...' He paused a moment and looked up as if trying to remember it in detail, and he smiled even more. 'When we said, 'I wish you enough,' we were wanting the other person to have a life filled with just enough good things to sustain them.' Then turning toward me, he shared the following as if he were reciting it from memory.

 

I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright no matter how gray the day may appear.

 

I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun even more.

I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive and everlasting.

 

I wish you enough pain so that even the smallest of joys in life may appear bigger.

 

I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.

I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.

 

I wish you enough hellos to get you through the final good-bye.

 

He then began to cry and walked away.

 

They say it takes a minute to find a special person, an hour to appreciate them, a day to love them; but then an entire life to forget them.

 

TAKE TIME TO LIVE....

To all my friends and loved ones,

I WISH YOU ENOUGH.

 

 

 

Edited November 7, 2012 by Daddydavek

[Bill W]

Until the day you lose nearly everything, either due to accident or a freak occurrence, you may not be able to appreciate such a simple and poignant wish.

[thatboyChase]

i wish you enough doesn't sound grammatically correct to me and in my world im always right, so im right, so i kinda don't care.

 

p_O?

 

why wouldn't you want to wish them everything? enough is like a cheap version of everything.

[NotNoNever]

And just what the hell would one do with everything? Try a food metaphor. Eat enough, and you enjoy the experience, the flavours, and the satisfaction. Eat too much, and you feel bloated, uncomfortable, and can't properly appreciate anything, never mind everything. The point here is that, enough IS everything!

[Mark92]

Too little, is not enough. Too much is more than enough. So yeah I wish you just enough is right,

[joann414]

And I wish you enough over and over Daddy. Beautiful!!

[Y_B]

I can sit here all night regurgitating similar sayings and identifying ways to twist perception

Will that make me more profound?

Edited November 8, 2012 by Y_B

[joann414]

You know what. Some of you come across as total assholes!. When you reach my age, you will appreciate the fundamentals of life. Sheesh. Enough!

[joann414]

i wish you enough doesn't sound grammatically correct to me and in my world im always right, so im right, so i kinda don't care.

 

p_O?

 

why wouldn't you want to wish them everything? enough is like a cheap version of everything.

 

i wish you enough doesn't sound grammatically correct to me and in my world im always right, so im right, so i kinda don't care.

 

p_O?

 

why wouldn't you want to wish them everything? enough is like a cheap version of everything.

 

 

Grow up! You are way out of line here. Life is life, and you obviously don't appreciate. Cheap is you just finding a reason to be heard. Read the post already and appreciate.

[Daddydavek]

I think the story illustrates its point just enough. For those who don't get it, you haven't really lived enough. Experience or death will fix that.

[thatboyChase]

Grow up! You are way out of line here. Life is life, and you obviously don't appreciate. Cheap is you just finding a reason to be heard. Read the post already and appreciate.

 

honestly, life appreciates me home girl

[Xtro]

You know what. <snip!> Sheesh. Enough!

 

Ah, one of the ways of keeping the blood pressure in the Normal zone is to mix in a little tolerance of youngsters who have yet to try and stare down the headlights of Life, not knowing that they're attached to a real mother of an 18-wheeler, which ain't going to stop for nobody.

[Yettie One]

Arrogance is never an attractive quality!

 

The sentiment of that story is just perfect. A family over time will always have special little quirks, wonderful stories that add substance and value to their relationships. Seeing that for what it is, is part of the joy of understanding that love always wants the best for those we cherish.

 

Enough? Much better than everything any day of the year. To have everything is to live in excess, to loose sight of the value and meaning of appreciation for what I have, what I've earned, what I'm given. In this case I would assume that everything was not an option for whatever reason, and rather than being greedy, or unrealistic, this family have learnt that true happiness comes from being content, and to be happy you really don't need everything, you just need enough.

 

These are things that we can only learn through trials and tribulations. Time changes every perception, and I can honestly say, there was a time I may not have seen this message for what it is worth, but having lived for a while, I can really appreciate the sentiment more. Daddy thank you for sharing, and may you too find enough to give you reason to smile, to be happy, and to find contentment.

[Mikelaing74]

They say it takes a minute to find a special person, an hour to appreciate them, a day to love them; but then an entire life to forget them.

 

This is the sentiment that I would take from the story, it's just right.

[NotNoNever]

Ah, one of the ways of keeping the blood pressure in the Normal zone is to mix in a little tolerance of youngsters who have yet to try and stare down the headlights of Life, not knowing that they're attached to a real mother of an 18-wheeler, which ain't going to stop for nobody.

 

Well, fair enough, but again it's a truth which not particularly useful. If the young don't get told by an exasprated body of wisdom, how are they ever going to avoid the pitfalls ... or to put it in your terms - getting hit by said 18 wheeler. Never forget that the middle aged pass on wisdom, and if the young don't get taught, it's the middle aged who suffer when they get old and the mess comes home to roost.

 

On the other hand, you could always give me an earbashing for metaphor abuse!

[layla]

"I wish you enough" That's beautiful, and simplistically perfect.

[thatboyChase]

my parents are on vacation but my mom called me to be annoying and i was like do you feel appreciated by me mom and she was like how come you ask this? and i was like well there is like like 52 year old woman on the internet and she is like "what is a 52 year old woman doing bullying on the internet" and i was like ikr? why? and then my mom was like every moment i wake up i appreciate you, when you came into my life and all the great things i've done and will do and all the things ive accomplished by 23 that she or my dad could of only dreamed and then she was like "that 52 year old woman doesn't appreciate you it seems" and i was like, you're so right mammy, i love you. bye.

 

but before i hung up i was like "mom, would you rather give me everything or just a small amount of enough boarding everything?"

 

"everything baby, cause i love you"

 

 

p.s i lol'd the whole time i wrote this

Edited November 8, 2012 by thatboyChase

[Xtro]

On the other hand, you could always give me an earbashing for metaphor abuse!

 

I would never derail your train of thought, nor sideswipe your little red wagon...

[joann414]

my parents are on vacation but my mom called me to be annoying and i was like do you feel appreciated by me mom and she was like how come you ask this? and i was like well there is like like 52 year old woman on the internet and she is like "what is a 52 year old woman doing bullying on the internet" and i was like ikr? why? and then my mom was like every moment i wake up i appreciate you, when you came into my life and all the great things i've done and will do and all the things ive accomplished by 23 that she or my dad could of only dreamed and then she was like "that 52 year old woman doesn't appreciate you it seems" and i was like, you're so right mammy, i love you. bye.

 

but before i hung up i was like "mom, would you rather give me everything or just a small amount of enough boarding everything?"

 

"everything baby, cause i love you"

 

 

p.s i lol'd the whole time i wrote this

 

 

Lol the whole time I read that. Bullying, right. I would never bully anyone. That is way out there. LMAO.

 

Just for the record. No personal affront taken. Hope the same for you:)

[Menace]

I wish myself enough loneliness to smile at least one time.

Edited November 9, 2012 by Menace

[Andrea]

Cute story.

 

As for the responses, wow. Some of you take the internet way too seriously.

[Xtro]

I wish myself enough loneliness to smile at least one time.

 

Seriously? It costs nothing to smile - and it will usually also makes someone else feel good, too. Even Goths & EMOs smile sometimes So have another one for luck!

[NotNoNever]

Cute story.

 

As for the responses, wow. Some of you take the internet way too seriously.

 

And this from somebody who comes on the internet with statements like 'kinda want to cry', 'Etsy will be my downfall', and 'my tolerance of stupid is non-existent today'. Seems like uploading statements about wanting to cry is a pretty good validation of the seriousness of the internet. Or are you just doing it for the attention, and to see whose heart strings you can pull? Seems rather patronising now.

 

What is it about people having a genuine response to something rather profound, and the silly, juvenile dismissals of it, that so offends people like you, and makes you think you can just denigrate them? Honestly, you seem to take your own shallowness way too seriously. If the internet is not a place for thoughtful, rational discussion where motes of genuinely useful communication can happen, then what exactly is it for? Why exactly do you think DaddyDaveK put this rather touching and inspiring 'tale' on the internet? To add to its vacuity? Somehow I doubt it.

 

The worst thing you can do in this world is dismiss opinion out of hand. Make an argument, fine. That adds something. But standing up, crying 'vacuum', and sitting back down again, only makes the rest of us wonder if it's not just a statement of self.

 

Curiously, my tolerance of flippant, dismissive, juvenile, and denigratory is non-existent today and it kinda makes want to cry. Unfortunately, I don't know which to do, because my role model seems to blow hot and cold on the matter. Helpful, that.

[Andrea]

And this from somebody who comes on the internet with statements like 'kinda want to cry', 'Etsy will be my downfall', and 'my tolerance of stupid is non-existent today'. Seems like uploading statements about wanting to cry is a pretty good validation of the seriousness of the internet. Or are you just doing it for the attention, and to see whose heart strings you can pull? Seems rather patronising now.

 

What is it about people having a genuine response to something rather profound, and the silly, juvenile dismissals of it, that so offends people like you, and makes you think you can just denigrate them? Honestly, you seem to take your own shallowness way too seriously. If the internet is not a place for thoughtful, rational discussion where motes of genuinely useful communication can happen, then what exactly is it for? Why exactly do you think DaddyDaveK put this rather touching and inspiring 'tale' on the internet? To add to its vacuity? Somehow I doubt it.

 

The worst thing you can do in this world is dismiss opinion out of hand. Make an argument, fine. That adds something. But standing up, crying 'vacuum', and sitting back down again, only makes the rest of us wonder if it's not just a statement of self.

 

Curiously, my tolerance of flippant, dismissive, juvenile, and denigratory is non-existent today and it kinda makes want to cry. Unfortunately, I don't know which to do, because my role model seems to blow hot and cold on the matter. Helpful, that.

 

I feel flattered you follow me so closely!

Edited November 10, 2012 by Andreaa

[NotNoNever]

I feel flattered you follow me so closely!

 

Nah, it's just difficult to miss the stuff that puts itself front and centre, and gets in the way of the genuinely inspiring.