Merry Christmas! Well in our office it was at least. Our organization treated us to free Christmas dinner and concert. It’s easy to think about where you work as a means to an end. In most cases its a way to earn an income that will allow you to eat, live somewhere and have fun. But interestingly, I work in a building full of highly qualified people capable of earning a lot more somewhere else. Some people sacrifice a bit of the income to work somewhere they feel they can make a difference in the world. But even under those circumstances, there can be frustrations and feelings of meaninglessness. I enjoy the people I work with, what I do, and even sometimes the challenges that my job deals with. Which is good, because 40 hours a week of your life is no small thing. 

But recently I was thinking about “how much is enough?” It started out as an existential budgeting question. But it quickly evolved into something larger. Here’s the premise. If I’m making $25,000 a year, I often think, “I could live happily on $30,000 a year,” when calculating living expenses, clothing, etc. now if I’m making $50,000 a year, can I still live happily on $30,000 a year? What about $100,000? What is the difference? Does making more mean that we require a higher amount to live on and still be happy? At what point do we start needing things just because we can have them? What would our world be like if everyone lived within an amount set regardless of their income? I don’t mean to sound socialist, maybe I’m just a little excessively frugal. 

Just because I have doesn’t mean I have to spend it on me. At some point, enough is enough. I wonder how my life would be different if I knew what “enough” was before I passed it. What is enough for you?