Friends in Nashville send me pictures from time to time when they see my friend Jimmie’s car around the city. Though Jimmie is gone, his impact on me lives on. Here is what I wrote about Jimmie in my book, ENOUGH…
Jimmie has ENOUGH as a customized license plate. He was asked, “Jimmie, would you still have that license plate if someone gave you a new Mercedes?” “Nope,” he replied, “then I’d get a plate that says, More than Enough.”
Jimmie had the plate made after reading Life is So Good!, the biography of George Dawson, a man who signed his name with an X until age 98. At 98 George learned to read and write.
George’s biographer asked him, “George, when you think of life, do you see the glass as half full or half empty?”
“I don’t see it as half full or half empty,” George replied.
“Then how do you see it?” the biographer asked.
“It is enough,” George replied. “Enough.”
Jimmie loves the book and the philosophy. Jimmie figures if George Dawson, a man who grew up black in one of the toughest times in a country’s history for a minority, and a man who was illiterate until 98 could look at life and say, “It is enough.” If this man could see life as neither half full or half empty, if he could look at life and claim enough, then so could he.
For my friend Jimmie, enough hasn’t just been an attitude, but a lifestyle – and a diet plan. Jimmie travels a lot for work, so he eats out a lot. Eating out usually means an easy road to gaining weight. Jimmie used the power of enough to limit what he ate. Instead of eating what he could, or what would make him feel good, he just ate what he needed at each meal. The Enough Diet Plan took forty-two pounds off Jimmie even while he was still traveling. Enough changed Jimmie’s life. It can change yours.
Consider the king in this next story adapted from Heather Forrest’s collection Wisdom Tales…
Once there was a prince who was so sad, his eyes seemed full of sadness and tears. The king was concerned about his son. He got cooks to prepare the best dishes, toymakers to make the best toys, and teachers to share their most stimulating ideas, but to no avail. No gift or treasure could free the prince from his sadness.
The king called his advisors who offered this solution, “For the prince to be happy, you must dress him in the shirt of a truly happy man. Then he will be cured of all his sorrow.”
So the king set out on a journey to find a truly happy man.
He went through the village to the church. The priest always seemed to him to be a happy man. “Your, majesty,” the priest said, “to what do I owe this honor?”
The king said, “You are known as a good and holy man. I would like to know, would you accept the position of bishop should it come to you?”
“Certainly,” replied the priest.
“Never mind,” the king said and left disappointed. If the priest were truly happy, he wouldn’t want to be bishop.
The king went to another kingdom and visited another monarch. “My friend,” asked the king, “are you happy?”
“Most of the time, but not always, there are many nights I am restless because I am worry about losing all that I have worked so hard to gain.”
The king left for he knew that this man’s shirt would not do.
On his way back to his own kingdom, he happened to be riding by a farm. He heard singing. He stopped his carriage and followed the sound of the song. There he found a poor farmer, singing at the top of his lungs. The farmer looked up to see the king approaching and said, “Good day, sir!”
“Good day to you,” said the king. “You seem so happy today.”
“I am happy every day for I am blessed with a wonderful life.”
The king said, “Come with me to the castle. You will be surrounded with luxury and never want for anything again.”
“Thank you your majesty, but I would not give up my life for all the castles in the world.”
The king could not contain his joy. “My son is saved! All I need do is take this man’s shirt back to the castle with me!”
It was then the king looked and realized… the man wasn’t wearing a shirt.
To find out more about the power of “enough,” click here: ENOUGH
