“You say, ‘If I had a little more, I should be very satisfied.’ You make a mistake. If you are not content with what you have, you would not be satisfied if it were doubled.”— Charles Spurgeon
Speaker Bob Perks was at an airport when he overheard a father and daughter in their last moments together. They had announced her departure. Standing near the security gate, they hugged and he said, “I love you. I wish you enough.” She in turn said, “I wish you enough, too, Daddy.” They kissed and she left. He walked over toward the window where I was seated.…
I tried not to intrude on his privacy, but he welcomed me in by asking, “Did you ever say goodbye to someone knowing it would be forever?”
“Yes, I have,” I replied. … “Forgive me for asking, but why is this a forever goodbye?” I asked.“I am old and she lives much too far away. I have challenges ahead, and the reality is, the next trip back would be for my funeral,” he said.
“When you were saying goodbye I heard you say, ‘I wish you enough.’ May I ask what that means?”
He began to smile. “That’s a wish that has been handed down from other generations. … Then turning toward me, he shared the following as if he were reciting it from memory.
I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright.
I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more.
I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive.
I wish you enough pain so that the smallest joys in life appear much bigger.
I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.
I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.
I wish enough “Hello’s” to get you through the final “Goodbye.”
My friends, I wish you enough! — Stories for Preaching
When you are discontent, you always want more, more, more. Your desire cannever be satisfied. But when you practice contentment, you can say to yourself, “Ohyes, I already have everything that I really need.”— Dalai Lama
Money can buy you a lot of nice things, but all the money in the world can’t buycontentment. — Mottos for Success
Philip Parham tells the story of a rich industrialist who was disturbed to find afisherman sitting lazily beside his boat.“Why aren’t you out there fishing?” he asked.“Because I’ve caught enough fish fortoday,” said the fisherman.“
Why don’t you catch more fish than you need?’ the rich man asked.“What would I do with them?”
“You could earn more money,” came the impatient reply, “and buy a better boatso you could go deeper and catch more fish.
You could purchase nylon nets, catcheven more fish, and make more money. Soon you’d have a fleet of boats and be richlike me.”The fisherman asked, “Then what would I do?”
“You could sit down and enjoy life,” said the industrialist.
“What do you think I’m doing now?” the fisherman replied, as he looked placidly out to sea.
Copyright © 2015 Anchor