Enough is Enough
by Nancy Pritchard, January, 2009
©2009, Nancy Pritchard, All Rights Reserved

Retire when the work is done. 
This is the way of Heaven.      ---  Excerpt from Vs. 9, the Tao Te Ching


Do you long to live a simpler, more fulfilling life? So did Elaine St. James. In the 1980's and 90's, Ms. St. James ran a highly successful real estate investing business. She even ran seminars and wrote books about real estate investing. Elaine was working 60-plus hour weeks and was seldom able to spend any quality time with her family or friends or even to have time on her own to relax. Although she had a substantial income, she didn't take time for vacations. One day while looking at her never ending to do list, it suddenly dawned on her that her life had become painfully unfulfilling and out of balance. That was the day Elaine finally said, "Enough is enough!"   

"Contrary to what some may believe," Elaine explains in her book Simplify Your Life, "simplifying is not about retreating to a cabin in the woods and leading a dull, inactive existence. Rather, cutting back your hectic pace gives you the opportunity to make sure that you're spending your life doing the things that you love. If you're not, you can change what you do. Simplifying will help you create that balance you're seeking in your work life, your family life, and your personal life. Out of that balance you'll have more clarity and enthusiasm to meet your goals. You'll learn how to achieve the success you want without all the stress and overwork. And simplifying will give you the time to develop a rich and rewarding inner life. Having that inner connection will make it so much easier to move beyond society's expectations and demands." 

To Elaine I say, "Thank you." She's one of the leaders in today's simplicity movement, of which I'm happy to say I'm a participant. 

I've been a 'doer' my entire adult life. "Have a productive day!" That could have been my life's motto. Many psychologists would tell you that chronic busyness is the product of living in today's society. The majority of people in mainstream society tend to measure their self worth by their possessions and their level of production -- on whether or not they own the biggest house or the most 'toys' -- on whether or not they are busy, busy, busy every single day of the week and most evenings, too. 

The height of my own busyness was probably in my 30's. In the early 1990's I was a wife, the mother of a baby and a pre-schooler, a student working toward a four-year accounting degree, a first time home buyer, and an income tax employee. Life was non-stop from 6 a.m. until midnight every single day. Some nights, baby James would awaken at 3 a.m. and stay awake for the remainder of the night. Looking back, I'm surprised I didn't fall asleep some days standing up. Life was filled with diapers, bottles, 2 a.m. feedings, textbooks, calculators, tax forms, moving vans, boxes of belongings, mountains of laundry and dishes and mops and brooms and the list goes on and on and on and on.

Although the pursuits of my lifetime have usually been righteous and fulfilling ones, the problem was that I didn't know when to say, "Enough is enough."  I didn't know when to stop. I never thought that I was supposed to stop for that matter! Why did I think that I had to have the new home and the new baby and the degree and the job all at the same time? I always thought it was noble to continue working, to carry on, to power through -- through exhaustion, fatigue and sleepless nights -- to spend my life in a constant stream of activity, moving from task to task to task -- always busy, busy, busy!!! After all, that's how we get anything of value out of this life, right?   

Wrong.  VERY wrong! 

Now that I've found a simpler way of living, I would do things quite differently if I had my earlier life to live over again. But I don't, of course, so instead I try to focus on healthier ways to live my life as I move forward. 

I'm not moving like a maniac from task to task anymore. I've slowed down considerably. I love the phrase from The Tao Te Ching, "Retire when the work is done" and I'm trying to do just that. I don't max out my days anymore. I don't max out my time or my energy. None of us can do it all - at least not all at once. I always spend some planning time deciding what tasks are most important at the beginning of each week. (For example, this week I'll be busy gathering financial information for home loan financing. The corporate tax return I'd really hoped to complete by the end of the week is going to have to wait.) Then I try to schedule a reasonable amount of work during any given day. Each morning, I dive right in and give every undertaking my best effort, but if the tasks are not all completed by the end of my workday, then they can wait until I'm back at my desk the following day. I've finally learned that the world will not end if I don't make it to the end of my 'to do' list every single day. Around The Healing Way, one of the mottos Alexandra tries to live by is, "What gets done gets done." I really like that sentiment. 

Americans are some of the hardest working people on earth. We tend to work more hours than our counterparts around the world, taking less vacation days per year and working longer hours during any given workweek. 

Do you think we're wealthier because of our workaholic tendencies? That depends on how one defines the word 'wealth' I suppose. Do you think we're happier? I doubt it. 

Do you take vacation days or at least enjoy some relaxation time on a regular basis? When you get home from the office, do you still have hours and hours worth of work awaiting you at home? Do you ever set a work cut off time for yourself? (At 8 p.m., I'm finished - no matter how far I've gotten on this project.) If you don't schedule time for your rest and relaxation, who will?

Most of us tend to be happier if our lives are in balance, so by all means, do your work, but then when the day is done…stop! Retire when the work is done! That means rest. Take some time out to enjoy yourself. Enjoy some time with family and friends. Read something fun or stimulating. Take a nap. Get outside and enjoy nature. If you've ever been tempted to try yoga or meditation, I highly encourage you to do so. If you start to allow more of these nurturing activities into your life, I can almost guarantee you're going to enjoy life more. 

As I finish this article, it's about 5 p.m. How are you going to spend your evening? Me? I've put in a full day's work already and I've got nowhere I have to be tonight. So I think I'll just sit by the fire for awhile with a hot cup of tea in my hand and a purring cat curled up on my lap. 

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To begin or to strengthen your own simplicity practice, join Nancy for the four part series Simplify Your Life, to be held at The Healing Way during the month of April. See the online Calendar of Events for more details about the class or contact Nancy at 301-696-8380 or by email. 

Nancy Pritchard is the Facilitator for the monthly Tao Study Group, 'Living a Peaceful Life' at The Healing Way. The group meets the first Thursday of each month from 7 - 8 pm. For the date of the group's next meeting, see the online calendar of events.

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