Careful with that word ''plenty''.

[P95Carry]

Just some thoughts (?ramble?).

An old aquaintance of mine back in UK just popped off ...... only a bit younger than me (OK - so that's old ).  Last time we spoke on the phone a good many weeks ago he was telling me about his latest project - some remodelling in his house.  He'd been on it already some months and was just trickling along, bit at a time, although he was retired and so had spare time to use on himself.

When asking about the time he was taking, he said ''Aw - plenty of time''... ''no rush''.  Was he short on materials perhaps?  ''Nah - got plenty''!  Was his wife getting frustrated over the mess?? ''Nah - she has plenty of patience'' (he assumed).

Got me to considering various aspects of ''plenty''.  Do we all have ''plenty'' of time?  Who knows.  Look at another aspect, when ''things'' are good and ''normal''.  We seem to have plenty of food in the house, plenty of ammo to go shoot.  Someone at the range has perhaps run out - ''hey - have some of mine, I got plenty''.  But when ''plenty'' becomes ''not so much'' we need to consider where the next lot comes from.

Plenty is a transitory state and I think that is worth remembering.  I can think back to some harsh times I had when plenty was barely enough!  It is all relative.  Today we may have ''plenty'' of cash in pocket or bank - there are no guarantees that will remain the same.

So where am I going?  Just pausing to perhaps take less for granted .... a moment to realize how we cannot assume guarantees on anything, and with time that is all too apparent.  Thus, appreciate the day and the moment.  Appreciate what you have, however modest, and remember that ''plenty'' is not a permanent state to assume.

[grampster]

Point well taken, Chris.  Take it from me, I fully understand your post.  16 days to surgery.  My life has already changed.  Uncertainty has become reality.
Point well taken, my friend.

[P95Carry]

Gramp's - just 16 days eh - well - may I use the word in your favor and wish you plenty of good result.  I had not realized it was comin' up so quick but, keep us in the loop eh. .  I (we) will be with you all the way.

[Felonious Monk/Fignozzle]

You're right, Chris.
Plenty is a fleeting thing.  

Rather than plenty, I wish each of you enough.

"Recently I overheard a father and daughter in their last moments together.
They had announced her departure and standing near the security gate,
they hugged and said, "I love you. I wish you enough." She in turn said,
"Daddy, our life together has been more than enough. Your love is all I
ever needed. I wish you enough, too, Daddy."

They kissed and she left. He walked over toward the window where I was
seated. Standing there I could see he wanted and needed to cry. 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. Saying that brought back memories I had of
expressing my love and appreciation for all my Dad had done for me.
Recognizing that his days were limited, I took the time to tell him face
to face how much he meant to me.

So I knew what this man was experiencing.

"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. My parents used to say it to everyone." He paused for a
moment and looking up as if trying to remember it in detail, he smiled
even more. "When we said 'I wish you enough,' we were wanting the other
person to have a life filled with just enough good things to sustain
them," he continued and 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 you enough "Hello's" to get you through the final "Goodbye."

He then began to sob and walked away.

My friends, I wish you enough!"

[crt360]

You can also have plenty of the wrong kind, like student loan debt, credit card debt, and bills to pay.  I'm very familiar with these.

grampster - I hope you get plenty of the good kind - good treatment, good fortune, good luck

[Paddy]

What's worrisome is that it's later than we think.  But I try not to think about that.

[USP45usp]

Chris and Felonious Fig, thank you for those thoughts.

And plenty is a state of mind.  What one may think is plenty is nothing to another.

As the story that Felonious Fig shared:  I wish you enough .

Grampster:  Good luck and God speed on your getting back up and going afterward .

Wayne

[grampster]

I don't want to hijack the thread but if were talking about how there might be different conotation to a word, I'd offer this one: Fair.

It seems that word gets bandied about in the same way as "plenty".  But what is fair?  In my view trying to define fair or fairness is impossible as one man's castle may be another man's prison.

  Fig's description of "enough" seems to fit in a lot of places well.  I'm going to try and incorporate it into my vocabulary.

[P95Carry]

Fig - thx a lot for that contribution - excellent and very well worth us remembering.  

Life rushes on - sometimes straight by us but - it is things like this that can give reason to pause, step back - and take a deep breath and a fresh look at what we have and treasure.

[USP45usp]

Chris,

I'm going to paraphrase and hopefully not change the original meaning of your post:

it is things like this that can give reason to pause, step back - and take a deep breath and a fresh look

I've been doing this the last week or so.  I've been running the rat race for so long I forgot to stop and smell the roses and just relax every now and then.

Wayne

[P95Carry]

Worth it when you do tho eh Wayne?!  There's more to life than rat race and stress - has to be.