What's 'Good Enough' For You?

"Your potential is only limited by your attitude. "

I have a certain set of relatives, on my wife's side, that will make a
good example here. They often find cause to be jealous of what I
have and therefore don't like me very much. It's obvious what their
problem is, however, and there's not much I can do about it.

They have a lower standard of what is 'good enough' than my wife
and I do. When my wife and I talk about the future, it contains
plans for a larger log home, money for the kids for college or
whatever they want to do, time spent traveling, camping, hunting
and fishing, a new van, and being able to help others out that need
it.

Now, we aren't where we want to be yet, but in the mean time we
do have a good home, a good car, we do get in some traveling and
camping, and we are working toward improving things for the
future.

When visiting these relatives, however, I hear and see the same
things over and over.

"Well, this house may not be much, but at least I own it and it's
good enough." (It's a beat up old single wide trailer with an open
35 gallon trash can right in the middle of the living room and a cattle
trough for a bathtub.)

"I ain't getting rich with this job, but at least it pays the bills, and
that's good enough." (He makes $7.50 an hour and gets laid off 3
months every winter)

"I don't have a real nice car, but I got 4 of them. That way if one
breaks down I just use another until I get it fixed, or until it breaks
down. That works out good enough." (His four cars are all at least
30 years old and do routinely take their turns at breaking down.)

Now, I really don't mean to put anyone down here. Everybody
struggles and everybody does their best with what they have.

The problem with these relatives is NOT the single wide house, the
$7.50 an hour job, or the 4 old cars. The problem is they are
content with what they have and are not pushing to improve. The
problem is they've decided that what they have today is 'good
enough' for the rest of their lives.

So, they hate me because I live in a better house, drive a better car,
and don't have to work for someone else. The only difference,
though, is that I expect more from life. The same old routine is
NOT good enough for me. I'm trying for better and I will get it.

'Good enough' is a state of mind that can destroy dreams faster
than anything. You've got to keep progressing. Set your standard
of 'good enough' as high as you most possibly can. Then work to
achieve it.

That's often the only difference between success and failure.

I know I'm not going to settle for anything less than what I've
always dreamed of. That is the ONLY thing that will be 'good
enough' for me and my family.

So now, you tell me, what's 'good enough' for you?