|||

Enough Is a Perspective, Not a Sum (Except When It Comes to Notebooks!)

How much is enough? That depends on where you’re standing when you ask the question

Cartoon line art showing a dissatisfied-looking person leaning against a wall. They are looking at a single, small round object that is sitting in their outstretched hand. On the other side of the wall, out of sight but visible to anyone who looks, is a large pile containing what appears to be thousands of the same object

If you’re struggling through lack of air, water, food, shelter or safety, nothing else is going to matter too much until the basics are covered. With regards to everything else, you can change your perception of how much you have by walking around to see it from a different angle.

Notice your immediate gut reaction when you consider if you currently have enough of each of the following —

  1. time
  2. money
  3. clothes
  4. furniture
  5. accessories
  6. pens/notebooks
  7. apps
  8. tech
  9. patience
  10. being valued by others
  11. success
  12. peace
  13. clear, uncluttered space

Now, granted, it’s very difficult indeed to have too many pens, notebooks, and apps, but it’s not outside the realm of possibility 😉.

This week, when frustration grates on your nerves, you’ll probably find a sense of not enough’ somewhere near the root. But what might you see if you walk all the way around to the shadowy side of the problem, and look at it from a new angle?

A grateful person is rich in contentment.” — David Bednar

This is not a call to unrealistic Pollyanna-ism. Rather, it’s a gentle invitation to be thankful for something you thought was lacking, but which you truly do have enough of.

Happiness will never come to those who fail to appreciate what they already have.” — Bilal Zahoor

For most of us, enough is a perspective, not a sum. But not for all.

May we do all in our power to bring the basics (air, water, food, shelter, safety) to those who truly do not have enough. Everyone should have the luxury of being able to choose to whether or not to buy just one more notebook.

Up next How to Escape the PKM Trap of Sophisticated Procrastination Alone in the Noise: Creating My Own Space in a Busy Household
Latest posts PTPL 153 · Working With the Garage Door Up Is Great (But You Might Want to Get Dressed First) Append, Not Prepend, if You Want to Craft a Dashboard at the Top of Your Daily Notes One Big Text File - the What and the Why Yes, Plain Text Friends, Some Open Formats Are Opener Than Others PTPL 151 · Why the Openest of Open Formats Isn’t the One for Me PTPL 150 · Simplicity Is Great but There’s a Key Lesson in This Genius Complexity PTPL 149 · 3 Tiny PKM-Themed Wisdom Snippets to Beat Digital and Analog Overwhelm PTPL 148 · How to Keep Your Googly Eyes on Your Mouse Pointer (and Off Google) There is Peace in Boundaries PTPL 147 · This Is Why You Might Want to Keep Multiple Daily Notes as Well as an OBTF PTPL 146 · Please Leave Me Alone, I’m Deliberately Distracted Changing From Hledger to Beancount PTPL 145 · Folders or Tags or Index Pages? They’re Tools, Not a Debate PTPL 144 · Browser Switching Time! Bye-Bye Arc, Hello Vivaldi PTPL 143 · You Don’t Need Any of the 6 Drafts App Alternatives I’ve Been Playing With Lately PTPL 142 · Done-for-You Markdown Dates for Organising an OBTF Calendar Headers for 2025 OBTF - Sunday Start Calendar Headers for 2025 OBTF - Monday Start PTPL 141 · Using todo.txt in Obsidian (Or Wherever You Like), Part 2 PTPL 140 · Using todo.txt in Obsidian (Or Wherever You Like), Part 1 PTPL 139 · 2 Proprietary Apps Designed to Set Your Data Free PTPL 138 · Daily Notes Don’t Need to Live in Separate Files PTPL 137 · There’s only One Right Way to Type the Date PTPL 136 · Why Do New Year’s Resolutions? Every Day is Already a Fresh Start PTPL 135 · This is Why To Do Apps Fail and What I’m Using Instead PTPL 134 · Paper, or Paperless? Yes Please Kindness, Hope, and a Christmas Carol from Me to You PTPL 133 · Eventually Consistent: a PKM Allegory on Taking Imperfect Action Now PTPL 132 · Happy To Do Lists · Better Queries in Obsidian · Trip Template · Avoiding App Lock-in Classifying Notes in an OBTF, Inspired By the Dash-Plus System 2025 Markdown Calendars
... ... ... ...