How Can You know When You Have Enough?
I wrote a blog post the other day about knowing when enough is enough and I’ve been thinking a lot about that since I published it. My mind kept turning over this idea of “enough” and I kept coming back to the question, “When is enough, enough?” I don’t mean in the metaphorical sense; I mean in the literal sense: how can you know when you have enough?
How much is enough money? What is enough time? How much house is enough house? How many jeans do you need to feel like you have enough clothing? You get the idea. And of course, my idea of enough that I so proudly proclaimed in my previous post was put to the challenge this weekend when my beloved tent trailer decided it was going to show me who’s boss.
Hitting the Open Road and Running Right Into Problems
I took an impromptu camping trip this weekend, deciding to turn it into a bit of a road trip. I packed up the car, loaded the camper onto the hitch and hit the road Friday afternoon feeling like the finest kind as I rolled out of town. Arriving at my first campsite just after 3 pm, I had no trouble pulling into my designated spot. I’d booked a drive-thru site: the best kind, in case you’re wondering. And I had a beautiful view of the ocean from atop my hillside lot. It was quiet all day. There wasn’t another soul around.
I was beginning to wonder where all the campers were at on a Friday evening, but that question would be answered around 9 pm when they all must have decided to get off the road and fill up the campground. Even still, as the sun was setting low and people were bustling about to get ready for a night in, I could hear the ocean waves splashing on the shore below me. It was divine.
Quiet on All Fronts Except Right in Front of Me
The fun started when I realized the camper wasn’t quite as level as I had thought it was and the door kept opening on its own. The two-piece, transformer-style doors on tent trailers aren’t exactly bullet proof, but they at least close, don’t they? They used to. On my previous camping trip, I woke up two nights on a row with the door swinging in the wind. So it seems that as much as I want my little camper to be “enough” for me and I enjoy using it, it may have decided it no longer wants to cooperate.
The next issue that arose came in the form of a gust of wind that took my awning, its poles and the gifted tent pegs I’d only recently received along with it and it went sailing through the air. Alright, Universe. I hear you. Maybe I should have sold the camper when I had the chance.
Instead of getting upset…alright, I got a little upset…but instead of getting frustrated by trying to fix the awning, I decided to just take it down. Now the front of my camper looks naked. I wish I was joking. There’s just something super cozy and functional about an awning in place. I would liken the front of my camper to a storefront now: it looks flat.
It Only Gets Better From Here, Right?
And finally (fingers crossed because I’m writing this on Saturday night and I still have all night and tomorrow to get through before I hit the road) a woman pulled up in my campsite with a camper van that cost more than my house claiming she had this site booked for the night. No worries; it happens all the time.
In fact, I’ve been to a site that was double-booked on more than one occasion. It’s easy to fix and you sometimes end up with an even better site because the campground messed up. But what should have been a quick interaction with a stranger with a case of mistaken campsite turned into an hour-long conversation and tour of her high-end camper van.
Know When You Have Enough AND Take the Tour of the Upgrade Anyway
Now, you’re probably thinking that the minute I finally stepped foot in that van, my little camper seemed to pale in comparison, but the funniest thing happened: I didn’t like her van. I smiled and nodded and asked lots of questions: she’s literally living the life I’m planning for myself down the road, on the road, so I took the opportunity to ask her opinion and get her advice on lots of things.
But the things she liked most about her camper van weren’t even on my radar. In fact, none of it was. And that conversation leads me to the full-circle moment of this blog with the original question, “When is enough, enough?” From here I want to take it one step further and say, “You won’t know what’s enough until you’ve got it.”
And with that in mind, I’m planning to start seriously shopping for a new camper/maybe van, but not like the one I saw this weekend. And in order to do that without dropping a mortgage-like amount of money on a camper, I’m going to rent some. I had an idea in my head of what this summer was going to look like with my little camper and it’s going great so far.
Two weekend trips down the hatch and a bit more of a lengthy road trip coming up to round it off. I intend on keeping my camper, as planned, throughout the summer. But now that I’m getting more clarity on what I might not want, it only makes sense to start seeking out the things I do want. I can’t know what is going to be right for me if I don’t try some different models out.
Experience New Things to Find Out if They are for You
At the encouragement of my new camper van friend, who told me about how she’d rented and test drove vehicles for two years before she finally found one she wanted to invest in, I’m going to do the same. When I asked her what made her choose that particular model, she pointed out two things that wouldn’t have caught my eye and I realized that my wish list would have been very different from hers.
And that’s the point. But because I hadn’t seen it before today, I didn’t know that wasn’t on my radar. Sometimes we think we want something and then we come to find out that it’s not the right fit for us. It takes actually going out and getting the thing to know when you have enough or if you need to keep looking.
Test Drive Without Fear
What I know about creating the life you want is you have to test drive different versions of different lives for at least a little while before you can move in a more permanent direction. And even then, making what seems like a permanent decision is never as scary as it sounds because you can always return the camper, sell the house, move to a different neighbourhood, get a different job, date someone else, or turn your mostly black wardrobe into something more worthy of summertime colors. The choice is yours. But you won’t know if you’re going to like something unless you try.
So in the spirit of being honest, but more important, creative, I’m going to set up some rental campers throughout the summer so I can start living versions of the life I want with even more clarity. And yeah, I’m talking about a camper here, but you can apply this to any area of your life. And keep this in mind: two things can be true at once.
You can have enough and still want different. You can know when you have enough and still want new. Maybe not more, but different. You can be happy and still want to change something in your life. And you can resign to the fact that the awning is fucked and still enjoy sitting outside getting sunburned in the wind.
What Does Enough Look Like For You And How Will You Know When You Have Enough?
How do we know when enough is enough? We have to experience it. And we have to give ourselves permission to experience it, otherwise we’ll always feel like the grass is greener on the other side. Letting yourself experience new things, test drive new ideas, visit new places or try on different versions of your life doesn’t mean you’re going to find something better. It might just help you see that what you had was, in fact, enough. Even if you end up right where you started, at least you’ll know you tried.
And you might make some fun memories while you’re at it.
If you’re wrestling with the idea of how to know when you have enough and want to work through some thoughts, consider signing up for my 5-day Journal Challenge. It’ll help you confront some beliefs and assumptions you have about yourself, your life, and your goals. And it’ll encourage you to try something new.
