Having Enough

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200 words, debt, desires, Diana Schwenk, Diana's Enormous Book of Quotes, enough, Fear, greed, human behaviour, humanity, joy, life, living within my means, love, needs, sacrifice, survive, wanting

There are two ways to get enough. One is to continue to accumulate more and more. The other is to desire less.

G.K. Chesterton

Have you ever thought about what drives us to have more? Why we need a more expensive, newer car, the latest gadget, a bigger house, more money? Does what we have not work? Does our survival depend on it? Or is it simply a matter of social status? Why is it so pressing that we keep up with the Joneses?

We humans are wired to survive. We need shelter. We need food. We need security from those who might harm us. And once we have those bases covered, we need to belong. We need to be needed and we need to know that we can count on others when we need them.

But when do our needs become frivolous? What marks the event when we’ve gone too far? When we must ‘have it’ just for the sake of ‘having it’? When we decide to live outside of our means and willingly fall into debt? When do we cross that line of pure greed that sacrifices our fellow (wo)man’s ability to survive?

~ DIANA’S ENORMOUS BOOK OF QUOTES ~

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A Lesson from Star Trek

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200 words, caring, collaboration, community, Diana Schwenk, Diana's Enormous Book of Quotes, hatred, integrity, love, power, Relationships, survive, thrive, true to yourself, trust, values, world issues

There’s another way to survive. Mutual trust…and help.   ~  Captain Kirk in ‘Day of the Dove’

Kirk laughs with McCoy and Kang, and the alien eventually departs.

In the ‘Day of the Dove’  Star Trek episode, Kirk and his crew find themselves in an intense battle with the Klingons.

Each side suspects the other of sabotage.

The more they fight, the more their hatred grows, all the while they unwittingly give up who they intrinsically are; feeding an alien entity exactly what it needs to grow stronger.

The stronger the alien becomes, the more it is able to cause dissention between them.

Eventually, they figure out what is going on and cease their warring. The alien (Hatred) loses its power and hope for mutual trust is restored.

Sometimes we find ourselves fighting so hard against something that we forget what it is we stand for.

If we clue in to what is really going on and strive to work together, we too can find common ground and build trust, not only surviving, but actually thriving.

~ DIANA’S ENORMOUS BOOK OF QUOTES ~

 Can you think of a situation that would benefit if you shift your approach?