When to say Enough and let an old story go
In the wonderful movie, “Saving Mr Banks”, Mrs Travers reaches a punctuation point where she says “Enough”, and signs over the document allowing Walt Disney to make Mary Poppins the movie.
She needed to call an end to the story she had been telling herself for probably 40-plus years. The story was trapping her. Even more significantly, it was preventing her from releasing Mary Poppins to the greater world, where it would bring moments of happiness and joy to millions of people, and still does to this day.
We all have stories that keep us small and trapped. And in most cases, we even have a degree of awareness of our stories.
The question then becomes, “How far do we go before we say enough?” Or, “How much more of this do I have to suffer before I say enough?” “What is my enough point?” “When will I be done with this?”
We live in the story for years, or decades. These stories can range from “I don’t deserve to be happy.” to “I have to do this work that I hate in order to meet my responsibilities.” to “I am not worthy or able to start my own business” to “I am not successful” (Even when you have achieved everything you set out to achieve.) to “I am the only one in my company that can do X” Oh, there are millions of stories.
Some stories might serve us well. But others will hold us back.
In my own life, I have reached an enough point. (Halleluiah!) I have found myself over the course of the last few weeks saying, “Enough. This story has to stop!”
When we finally call enough, we are inviting a whole new level of engagement with life and work. Often, we don’t call enough because we fear that the change in who we will become will be too much… too bold… too scary. So we stay ‘safe’ in the familiar and ever more painful story.
It is kind of interesting that on one hand we have too many small stories and too few (scarcity) of the stories and actions that will take us to where we really want to go. It’s the Enough/not enough polar dance. They are intimately linked.
The paradox is that when we call Enough, it breaks the back of the ‘not enough’ story.
Extending beyond self, there are many things as a collective we need to say enough to. Enough to big business/money owning politics. Enough to the widening gap between those who are resource and opportunity-rich and those who are resource and opportunity-poor. Enough of the arrogance of taking from the earth with no regard for the harmony and balance of life and nature. Enough rampant greed and consumption. Enough with whining and complaining without any willingness to step up to the plate and take responsibility for a contribution. Enough to not deploying the brilliance of man to build, design and create net zero cities, communities…
What are the stories in your life or business that you need to say enough to? And when will it be time to call Enough?
Photo credit : Thomas Hawk
