What is 'just enough'?

(Baonghean) -When I was young, a friend of mine said that he wanted to be rich enough to help people who were poorer than him. “I want to do charity”, he said in a very confident and certain voice, “near my house, there are orphans or children whose families are too poor to go to school, there are old people who have never known good food their whole lives, I think they are really disadvantaged…”.

Indeed, after graduating from high school, he tried his best to get into the top university in the country, and after graduating, he was accepted to work in a state agency with a stable income. But after a while, perhaps because he felt he was not “rich enough”, he did illegal things and got into trouble with the law. Now he is penniless, released from prison and starts his life over with many regrets.

The story of that friend always makes me think about sufficiency. In this big life, among so many things

With so many values ​​and their inversions and ambiguities, how do we know when something is enough? And for whom, for what, enough for what, enough in what sense?

Like cooking a dish, it may be suitable for one person but too salty or bland for another, and too spicy for another. Like a shirt, it may fit or look good on one person but not on another… So what is the measure of that “just enough” so that people do not fall into greed, excessive enthusiasm, blind ambition and uncontrolled mistakes? Is there a common answer for those “just enough” things?

The answer is no. There is no common denominator or answer for values ​​or for a group of people. That “enough” depends on each person’s “estimation” of their desires or dreams, but those desires or dreams must not go against the interests of society. To some extent, you can still feel about enough, adjust, nurture and control it, like the way you cook a delicious dish for many people to enjoy. There is a way to please everyone while the dish is still delicious and perfect.

I believe that my childhood friend had a very beautiful dream. He loved the poor and wanted to help them have an easier life. But he forgot one thing, that wealth itself is not a value. The meaningful things in life can only be the things that bring people joy, happiness, comfort and freedom.

Quynh An