Enough

...Or why I don’t need that second cup of tea

I’ve documented elsewhere my love of minimalism but I think I’ve found a new approach that will help keep me on the straight and narrow. It’s the concept of enough.

Enough food, enough wine, enough social media… just ENOUGH already!

I’m not a great believer in New Year’s resolutions – there’s just too much pressure! – but on January 1st, I decided to try a new tack with one small aspect of my life: I would drink just one cup of tea at the end of a meal.

Like most people who grew up in Ireland, I LOVE my cuppa. I take it weak, with lots of (soya) milk.

But I noticed that I’d often reach for an extra biscuit just because I still had half a mug of tea left.

Or I’d accept a top-up just because I wanted to delay returning to my work.

I was guilty of indulging in mindless consumption, albeit of tea, rather than a fix of fast fashion or calorie-laden junk food.

In itself, this tea habit was much less harmful than automatically lighting a cigarette or raiding the office vending machine for a chocolate bar. But it wasn’t necessary, not beyond the first mouthful of tannin that all tea drinkers hanker after.

All I was succeeding in doing was consuming more caffeine than was needed, drinking more milk than was needed, very often eating more biscuits than were needed, and wasting more of my own time… which I definitely didn’t need.

So since New Year’s Day, I have put an end to mechanically pouring myself cups of tea I don’t actively want. As any tea drinker will tell you: the first cup of tea of the day is an almost transcendental experience. However, as any economics student will tell you: after that, the law of diminishing returns sets in.

I like to think that my resolution is an exercise in appreciating the value of Enough. If I can have Enough of what I want or need, if I can curb the impulse to acquire more and more, I can find contentment and happiness in what I have.

One week into 2020, what new habits are you succeeding in?