Except for very recent human history, almost all of humanity was spent in scarcity. Literal starvation, famine, war, struggle.
I have Ukranian ancestry, my grandmother was born there in 1922. She grew up under Stalin’s Soviet Union, and a man-made famine where the food of Ukraine was stolen (this current war is like history repeating itself). My grandmother became an orphan at 6, and all of her family died of starvation and typhus. She was the only one of her immediate family to live.
Died of starvation. It’s hard to imagine.
And then World War 2 happened and she was put into forced labor by the Germans. My wife recently was doing some genealogy and actually found the paper record of my grandmother in that labor camp. Chilling.
She immigrated to Canada following World War 2, she lived to 92, and I’m a result of her survival.
I live in unimaginable luxury, compared to the life she was born into. I wonder sometimes what my ancestors would make of the life I have today.
If you drove past my home, it would not catch your attention from the outside. It’s not ostentatious. It is, however, the “gold standard” of western living – a detached single-family home. The modest exterior hides that it’s 5 bedrooms, has a basement large enough that I built an arcade in, and a backyard resort. It’s more than enough home.
And then I wonder… how much is enough?
There are richer neighborhoods in my city. There are mansions. There are people that have a hell of a lot more “stuff” than me.
I made a conscious decision to draw a line, and not let “lifestyle creep” continue indefinitely.
For my own peace, and for the health of the planet.
If I’m going to be a climate activist, then I have to walk the talk and live within a tolerable amount of hypocrisy. Part of that is deciding how much is enough.
I won’t finger wag at people for simply wanting what I have.
This is partly why I think innovation is an essential part of any climate solution, there’s a level of life we’ve become accustomed to.
However, with that being true, then I will do my part of deciding how much is enough.
Enough is a gift. It’s good to feel full. It’s good to feel contentment.
When I was 35 years old, I came up with a “Freedom 35” goal, of how much money I needed to support the life I lived at that time. And then I blew past it, and it would be impossible for me to live at that level today. Later, I made a “Freedom 45” goal, and I vowed I never want to have a “Freedom 55” goal. No more moving the goal posts.
Through my own personal development work, I’ve learned and relearned the hard truth that I can’t control anyone but myself. I can’t control my wife, I can’t control my kids, so I’m certainly unable to control anyone outside my home.
All I can do is model what’s possible, and offer people a glimpse of that. And if they want it, they can have it.
Today, the most powerful thing that is under my control is deciding how much is enough and what becomes possible from having enough.
How much is “enough” for you?
