Cohen - Enough already : the power of radical contentment

ALSO BY ALAN COHEN

Are You as Happy as Your Dog?
Dare to Be Yourself
A Deep Breath of Life*
A Daily Dose of Sanity*
Dont Get Lucky, Get Smart
The Dragon Doesnt Live Here Anymore
Handle with Prayer*
Happily Even After*
Have You Hugged a Monster Today?
How Good Can it Get?
I Had It All the Time
Joy Is My Compass*
Lifestyles of the Rich in Spirit*
Lindens Last Life*
Looking In for Number One
My Fathers Voice
The Peace That You Seek
Relax into Wealth
Rising in Love*
Setting the Seen
Why Your Life Sucks and What You Can Do about It
Wisdom of the Heart*

*Available from Hay House
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Copyright 2012 by Alan Cohen

Published and distributed in the United States by: Hay House, Inc.: www.hayhouse.com Published and distributed in Australia by: Hay House Australia Pty. Ltd.: www.hayhouse.com.au Published and distributed in the United Kingdom by: Hay House UK, Ltd.: www.hayhouse.co.uk Published and distributed in the Republic of South Africa by: Hay House SA (Pty), Ltd.: www.hayhouse.co.za Distributed in Canada by: Raincoast: www.raincoast.com Published in India by: Hay House Publishers India: www.hayhouse.co.in

Cover design: Julie Davison Interior design: Riann Bender

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced by any mechanical, photographic, or electronic process, or in the form of a phonographic recording; nor may it be stored in a retrieval system, transmitted, or otherwise be copied for public or private useother than for fair use as brief quotations embodied in articles and reviewswithout prior written permission of the publisher.

The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or prescribe the use of any technique as a form of treatment for physical, emotional, or medical problems without the advice of a physician, either directly or indirectly. The intent of the author is only to offer information of a general nature to help you in your quest for emotional and spiritual well-being. In the event you use any of the information in this book for yourself, which is your constitutional right, the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Cohen, Alan.

Enough already : the power of radical contentment / Alan Cohen. 1st ed.

p. cm.

ISBN 978-1-4019-3520-7 (tradepaper : alk. paper)

1. Contentment. 2. Attitude (Psychology) 3. Conduct of life. I. Title.

BJ1533.C7C62 2012

178dc23

2011038499

Tradepaper ISBN: 978-1-4019-3520-7

Digital ISBN: 978-1-4019-3521-4

15 14 13 12 4 3 2 1

1st edition, February 2012

Printed in the United States of America

To my beloved parents, Robert and Jeane Cohen,

who taught me that there is always enough of

everything because there is always enough love.

At a time when many people are worried about money, the divorce rate is soaring, politicians are being indicted, new poisons in food are exposed daily, natural disasters ravage the planet, wars despoil nations, and fear of terrorism has forced decent people to undress to board an airplane, the prospect of contentment seems like a bad joke or nave fantasy. If someone asked you, How are you? and you answered, I am content, the other person would probably raise an eyebrow and wonder if you were on drugs, living in denial, or had attended too many self-help seminars. In times as difficult as ours, contentment seems radical, even heretical: How dare you be happy when so many things are going wrong or could or will?

Yet contentment is not a bank balance, marital status, or pot of gold you reach at the end of the rainbow. It is a choice you make, an attitude you step into, a state of being that runs deeper than conditions. It is more available than impossible. Can you and I find a way to be at peace with ourselves and our lives right now, even before the mortgage is paid, we resolve our differences with our ex, or global warming is offset?

I have wanted many things in my life, and I still do. It had always seemed that I would be happier if I found my soul mate, lived in a bigger house, saw my book on the bestseller list, or toted the latest-generation iPad. Then I met a man who turned my belief system upside down. Shin-ichiro Terayama is a Japanese physicist who radiates joy more brilliantly than any soul I have ever met. He wears a perpetual smile and lights a room simply by entering it. I have never known someone so genuinely happy.

When Shin was diagnosed with terminal cancer, he was catapulted into deep soul-searching. He went to a Japanese garden and considered what would make his life meaningful, whether he lived one more day or another 40 years. His answer was: to be grateful for everyone and everythingincluding his cancer, as a wake-up call. From that day on, Shin said Thank you for every event and experience that showed up in and around him. Within a few months, the cancer disappeared. That was 25 years ago. Now Shin teaches others to find health and happiness by practicing the lost art of appreciation.

The Talmud asks: Who is rich? It answers: He who is content with his lot. Upon hearing that, the negative mind might go to: What if I were consigned to a wheelchair in a flea-bitten apartment, stuck with someone I hate, wearing thrift-store clothes, and eating dollar fast foods for dinner? Im supposed to be happy there? But think of the word lot. You are not given a little. You are given a lot. Only the fearful mind goes to catastrophic fantasies. The spirit within you knows that you deserve good things. If life has taken good care of you thus far, do you really believe it would stop now? And would the hand of love not bless you whatever turn your life takes? Could your life take more and more turns for the better?

Content means to contain. You contain what you seek. It is in you, as you. No thing and no one outside you can give you or make you more than you already are. The treasure you seek, you already own. The treasure you seek, you already are.

Contentment does not mean complacencylazily lying back and saying, I will just accept what I have and never ask for more. True joy calls for you to appreciate what you have and reach for greater: to be happy and hungry. It is natural and healthy to want to grow, expand, advance, achieve, and discover more about who you are and what life has to offeras Thoreau posited, to live deep and suck all the marrow of life. A mature sense of happiness embraces all that you are and want, and moves beyond settling into adventure.

Enough Already can also mean refusing to accept any situation not in harmony with your well-being.

We have all engaged in relationships, business situations, and living arrangements that demean us or lack integrity. Upon recognizing that we have sold out to fit in, we must say no to what does not serve us so we can make space for what does.

You cannot afford to settle for any situation that dampens your spirit. When you discover you have detoured, you must do whatever it takes to return to the path of joy. Putting your foot down is a prerequisite to stepping ahead.