On scarcity and general not enough-ness
I’m not sure there will be enough.
Enough food, water, money, resources, time, space, hope, love.
MudLOVE had a tag line that said:
“What one may lack in clean water, another may lack in love.”
In the Central African Republic many women and children must spend most of their days seeking clean water. Sometimes they must settle for dirty water.
Others spend most of their days looking to fill a different kind of need. Sadly, sometimes they must settle for something less.
Everyone has needs. Everyone.
If you’re a do-gooder like me, you do your best to hide these needs even from yourself. The logic says: “If I take up less emotional/physical/psychological space, there will be more room for the people that really need it.”
But that feeds the very thing I’m trying to stop: scarcity.
I used to think I had to pick between looking out for myself or being attentive to the needs of others.
But now I’m starting to wonder if it can be both/and. I chose the word “be.” as it seems to be the answer to both what others and I need. Instead of deciding ahead of time if there will be a scarcity, I live it rather than trying to predict it.
My “I’ll figure it out” becomes “I’m right here.”
My “I’ve got nothing left to give” transforms into “I have what I need right now.”
My “I wish I could have...” changes to “I’m glad I now see...”
It’s hard to live this way but I have found that the pauses are longer, the movement is slower, and the joy is deeper.
be.
Thanks to Jimmy, our Employee Care Manager, for sharing his Word of the Year with us. Read his previous blog post here.
Have you chosen your Word of the Year? Bring it to life by creating your own custom bracelet, on sale through January.
