If we could never have started Inkling, dayenu (it would have been enough)

I was fortunate enough to attend my first Passover Seder this weekend.

A very poignant part of the meal for me was the reciting of the song Dayenu. Dayenu means "it would have been sufficient" or "it would have been enough".

It's a song about thanksgiving, and an attempt to realize that even if none of the great things that have happened to us constantly actually happen to us, there are STILL things to be thankful for.

The song Dayenu traces a series of miracles and successes that happened to the Jews after they left their captors in Egypt. The song exists to help remind people that after freedom, even if all these extra things didn't occur, there is even so much more to be thankful for. Being free would have been enough.

Thankfulness is one of the first things that we completely throw out the window. Especially those of us who are constantly reaching for the next goal, the next promotion, the next award, or the next big sale. We constantly want more, and it's fabulous when we get it, but we forget that even if we hadn't gotten that next success, all the blessings and gifts that we already have, would have been enough.

I personally relate to needing to be more thankful for what I already have. I've constantly worked hard to achieve more with Inkling and my whole life. But really, Inkling has already been a gift to me.

The people it's allowed me to become friends with. The freedom it's helped me achieve in my career. The crazy amount of things I've learned.

It's hard to say this actually. It would be much easier just to pay lip service to this, and just say "we" should be thankful for what we already have while I continue to HAVE TO GET MORE.

But seriously, if Inkling couldn't get another customer after today and we had to shut down. If Inkling had only lasted the first 3 months of Y Combinator and never went on to be a lasting company. If we had never had the courage to quit our jobs and start Inkling. If I had never had the ambition to change my career path after college. If I had never had the chance to go to college. It would have been enough.

I'm lucky enough to have never had a captor. Everything else I'm given is a gift I need to enjoy and be grateful for like it could be gone tomorrow. Dayenu.