When Is Enough, Enough? · BoomZeal Labs

When Is Enough, Enough?

The other day my son said something no 6-year-old should even be able to conceive of.

While they were probably just words being recited

and I, saddened and confused, immediately started wondering where he even heard of such a concept. School? Friends? Television? Was it that dumb show he watched? Maybe. So we decide “that one's off the list.” But then… what about the next one? When he’s at a friend’s house?

Last week he had overheard me on the phone telling my wife that a man got shot. His supersonic hearing caught what I never intended him to. I should’ve been more careful — but it happened. And it’s a reminder that no matter how much I try to protect him, he’s going to learn the hard truths of this world one day… sooner than he should... It's just a matter of if we're there to help him process when they come.

We watched the movie Little Giants the other night — remember the little kid whose mom wraps him up in foam insulation before sending him out to play? It's funny… but don't we all wish the bubble wrap method would work?!

But then he asked my wife something else that landed even deeper: “Why does Daddy like working so much?”

He understood why people work… but he couldn’t understand why I seem to prefer it. "No, he REALLY likes work." He must perceive that work gets more of my attention than he does.

And you know what? My inner voice had an answer I didn’t like hearing: “Well son, that's because Daddy must not be satisfied with himself. He probably thinks maybe he’ll find it in what he builds or accomplishes. The next thing he does. Meanwhile, his most prized creation is you — the one thing that is he lost he’d burn everything else down for.”

Go figure. Even when we get what we thought we wanted… we still want more. We still keep filling a void that only seems to expand.

So I ask myself — and maybe you too: When is enough, enough?

Enough mindless, junk food entertainment that rots our brains.

Enough of our own bullshit and excuses.

Enough hate in the world.

Enough already.

Maybe “enough” isn’t about quitting or giving up.

Maybe it’s about noticing what’s already here.

Maybe it’s about learning to sit in the fullness of what we’ve been given… instead of always reaching for more.

For me, Theo is the center of my universe.

For you, it might be something else.

But either way, I hope we don’t wait too long to realize the main thing should be our main thing.