The Resonance of Enough™
Lessons from the Midst Between Worlds
by Dr. Danny G., The Leadership Alchemist™
“The Resonance of Enough™” explores what happens when care becomes currency — and how reclaiming your presence, even in the midst of burnout, can turn exhaustion into alchemy.I. The Letter of Enough
When saying no becomes an act of sacred sovereignty.
A friend and former colleague once shared a story that has stayed with me.
She told me about the moment she decided to protect her peace — turning down yet another “just one more thing” request at work to keep a promise to herself and her family.
Months before her family’s long-awaited Disney trip, she saw the storm clouds forming: a critical campus review kept getting delayed, pushed dangerously close to June — the week she’d requested off nearly a year earlier.
She had done everything right: planned early, communicated clearly, and raised red flags as soon as she saw the conflict coming.
When she finally sat down with her supervisor to talk through options, he asked:
“What if you stay an extra day or two before joining them?”
“Or maybe you could just remote in for a few meetings?”
And she, steady but firm, replied:
“No. That’s not going to happen. I’ve planned this time a year in advance, and I’m not willing to compromise it. My family and I have invested our time, money, and hearts into this. This is our sacred week — and I’ve made every effort to ensure the work is covered. This is my line.”
It wasn’t anger. It was sovereignty — the quiet kind that says, I’ve given everything I can. This is what enough looks like.
A few weeks later, while at Disney — surrounded by fireworks and laughter and kids sticky with joy — she got the call: she’d landed a new job. One that honored her boundaries instead of breaking them.
The timing wasn’t coincidence.
It was confirmation.
A divine mic drop.
She left her old job soon after — not with a resignation letter, but with what I now call a Letter of Enough.
II. The Dinner of Enough
When the moment you miss teaches you what your soul already knew.
As I’ve reflected on my friend’s story of enough,
I’ve realized I have my own version —
one that didn’t end with a Disney parade,
but with a watered-down drink and a missed connection.
It was a weeknight, early evening — that liminal stretch between daylight and dark.
We’d just ordered drinks, even an appetizer.
I remember laughing, feeling light — like maybe this could be something.
Then my phone started vibrating. Once. Twice. Again.
A team crisis. Work needed me.
I’d come straight from the office to meet him, still in a full suit —
him in what I would’ve chosen for myself if I’d had the time to change or even plan.
But as was too often the case with my personal life,
planning was something I reserved for work, not for me.
Before I knew it, I was outside, pacing in the mist —
that Ohio indecision between rain and snow,
the weather matching how conflicted I felt inside.
The gray sky was the color of the moment.
I was trying to hold two worlds together:
the one that needed my care,
and the one where I wanted to be cared for.
Fifteen, maybe twenty minutes later, I walked back in.
He smiled — polite, kind, already gone.
We finished the chips, talked about nothing,
and when the check came, I said, “Let’s try for another time.”
We both knew there wouldn’t be one.
I wasn’t heroic.
I wasn’t heartless.
I was just trying to hold two worlds together —
the one where people counted on me to care,
and the one where I wanted to be known beyond what I do for a living.
That night, the worlds overlapped and short-circuited.
I’ve carried that night ever since as proof of my shortcomings —
too responsible, too available, too … something.
But lately, I’ve started to see it differently —
not as failure, but as data.
Presence is sacred currency.
And I get to decide how to spend it.
So here’s to the watered-down drink, the mist, the missed connection.
To every leader, lover, or human who’s ever stepped outside trying to be everything at once:
you were enough then, too.
You just didn’t know it yet.
III. The Lesson of Enough: The Midst Between Worlds
The wisdom earned in the in-between — where our boundaries, belonging, and becoming collide.
That night taught me what my friend at Disney learned too:
That our boundaries aren’t rebellion — they’re reverence.
That the world won’t stop spinning if we say no.
That “enough” isn’t an ending; it’s a form of integrity.
Leadership doesn’t always look like holding it all together.
Sometimes, it looks like letting one thing go —
so something more important can rise.
We don’t talk about that enough in education or leadership —
the courage it takes to protect your humanity in a system that rewards exhaustion.
But the future belongs to those who do.
Because maybe,
the real work of leadership isn’t managing time.
It’s honoring life.
The mist between worlds —
between duty and desire, care and capacity, being there and being here —
that’s where we find it.
That’s where we choose what kind of leaders, partners, and people we’ll be.
IV. The Resonance
How enoughness becomes not an ending, but a frequency we return to — again and again.
Presence is sacred currency.
Spend it like it matters.
When we stand in our enoughness, what’s not enough falls away — and what’s meant for us rises to meet us.
If we haven’t yet accepted our own enoughness — in ourselves, our work, our lives — we either chase what we think we lack or run from what we already have.
But when enough is enough, we don’t run or hide.
We stand tall.
Head steady. Eyes clear.
That perspective lasts — because it’s earned through time, truth, and courage.
V. Epilogue: Paying the SoulTax
… and learning that sometimes, the refund is presence itself.
It’s fine. Everything’s fineee.
I said that phrase so often my team eventually learned it didn’t mean what it sounded like.
They used to joke that when I said, “It’s fine,” what they really heard was fire.
It probably didn’t help that I was also the one who’d say — half-joking, half-serious —
“Doesn’t this feel like that meme? The dog sitting in the burning room saying, ‘It’s fine. We’re fine. Everything’s going to be fine.’”
Part aspiration and prayer.
Part desperation and despair.
All fixed up in a meme that somehow spoke directly to the first in my soul.
That’s what the SoulTax does: it teaches you to make humor out of heartbreak, to laugh so you don’t have to cry, to keep promising fine when what you really need is enough.
For years, I mistook depletion for devotion. I thought the cost of caring was proof that I cared enough.
But every time that inner cash register chimed — cha-ching, there goes another piece of you — I’d rationalize it away.
It’s fine. It’s the busy season. It’s what leaders do.
Helpers aren’t helpless.
We’re just trained to treat exhaustion as evidence of purpose.
But maybe the truth is simpler.
Maybe I didn’t fail for trying too hard.
Maybe I just ran out of currency that was never meant to be infinite.
Because what I know now — what I feel in my bones — is that the SoulTax can’t be refunded by rest alone.
It’s repaid through presence. Through small reclamations. Through dinners you stay at. Through saying no when your phone buzzes and your soul whispers don’t.
Enough isn’t a finish line. It’s a boundary with a heartbeat.
So tonight, if the register dings in your head,
if the gray sky feels heavier than the day you had,
if you catch yourself apologizing for wanting a moment to breathe —
remember this:
You are not broke.
You are breaking open.
And the only currency that ever mattered was your presence.
From The Tragicomic Chronicles™ — because life is always a combination of the two.
Part of SoulWork™: The Resonance of Enough™ — exploring boundaries, belonging, and the art of being human.
Join me for SoulWork™: The Resonance of Enough — Tuesday, October 28, 3–4 PM ET.
A 60-minute guided session for leaders, educators, and humans learning to protect what matters most — your energy, your values, your presence.
🔗 drdannyg.com/soulwork [Founder’s Rate till 10/22 ]: $27
Or step into HeartWired™ Leaders: Foundations — beginning Wednesday, October 29 — a six-week journey into rhythm-based leadership, ethical AI fluency, and sustainable belonging.
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