The Concept of Enough ... and Occupy Love

Last week I was very lucky to be able to watch a private screening of the Occupy Love movie with +Kate Griffiths (who organised the event) and a collection of other interesting ladies.

The movie discussed the phenomena of the Occupy movement, its rise (and its fall at least physically on Wall Street) and what the outcomes have been from this, and other significant 'coming together' of people right across the globe. One of the most important messages from the film is the message that 'Love' is the solution to the problems in the world today and that it is directly opposed to, Hate, Envy, Greed, Control, Manipulation, Power, domination over others which are characteristics of the capitalistic world that we live in today.

The problem for most people is that it is a bit of a 'cliche'... Love is the solution... there is no doubt that this is the case, however it is most probably 'as a concept' a bridge too far for people to leap right now... what would it look like anyway? ... people going around hugging each other? ... I'm not sure this is a message which people feel they can deploy... there is no doubt that it is the end game, but a lot of water needs to pass under the bridge to reach this point.

Although the Occupy movement achieved a huge amount, it has almost been turned by the media into 'an event' that happened when a group of 'hippy like', 'peace loving' people camped out in the middle of New York and... equally radical people across the world did the same thing in their countries... Eccentric behaviour like this cannot appeal to the real masses, who I believe would be prepared to make small shifts but would not want to jeopardise everything they have worked for so far...

Clearly the world is in a pickle there is no arguing about that. There is also a general opinion amongst the masses that the 99% are getting poorer whilst the 1% are getting richer, so how do you go about reversing a trend like that? ... made even more difficult because the money supply, power and control is managed by the 1% ... they don't want things to change remember... and never in the history of the human race have those in power given it up voluntarily!

When I consider what might it take to create the huge shift it always comes down to the same thing... if we stop the never ending struggle for more money, more possessions, more of everything... and stop believing the lie that there can be continual growth in our economies, then perhaps we might make a start.

We are the only animal on the planet that has Wants... every other creature in its natural habitat takes what it needs to survive and continue the species. Humans do not... we have this desire (fuelled by those in power) to compete with each other, compare and judge, the survival of the fittest! ... we are taught to believe in ourselves, to be better than those around us, so that we can have more than them... when we have more possessions, we then have greater value, which fuels our ego and pride... we are now victorious in our quest to be better than those we were competing with... now move up a league and go again.

All of this consumes vast resources, far more than we actually need... and are we ever happy? ... we max ourselves out at each level constantly striving to be at the top, so we can move up a level and do it all over... there is no room in our lives for anything except money, possessions, power, control and ego... this does not make a fair, balanced society... it has got us in this mess... and doing more of the same will not get us out of it!

All of this is driven by scarcity thinking, not abundance thinking, and the fear of being without instead of trusting that if we put our faith and energies into being the best we can be that the universe will provide...

So how can we change the way the world is? It is very simple... if we adopt 'The Concept of Enough'... what is this?

THE CONCEPT OF ENOUGH

Each of us has a number, a sum of money that if we had it we could lead a happy life with time for the important things in life. This number is a sum of money where money is no longer the focus of our life it is off the table as the major issue. Where we can begin to give back to our families, our communities and help others achieve the same.

But it has far more deep reaching effects at its heart than just the above. Suddenly with money and possessions no longer being the key focus there is a fundamental shift. Away from what is in it for me ALL THE TIME, to how can I help others achieve their number too! This is a transition to a more caring, giving and supportive attitude... we start to seek solutions for other people... and in needing to fulfill this obligation we need to know who the people are around us and what problems they can solve. This is the rebuilding of community... all working together to achieve... being happy actually...

What this does as a by product is very interesting... take the greed, lust for money away from the population, you take away the power of those that control the money... Quite literally if you remove the insatiable desire for money, those that control the money no longer have power over you. You are free to choose how to spend your time... Money is the focus of big business... big business influences and controls government... government manipulates us through the thin veil of democracy, the use of media and fear keep us doing nothing about our situation...

It is a different way to think, but by taking responsibility for what we consume, using the 'Concept of Enough' in our daily lives... we would bring about such great changes... this really is something everyone of us can do... it is something that won't need us to lose what we have built, or make huge adjustments... but it will set us on the right path... and by working together we can certainly create the future that we want... not the one we are currently being told we can have...