In Search Of Contentment

What is contentment?

The dictionary informs us that it is the experience of being satisfied, of not desiring more than you have. This is a starting point, but it leaves out important elements of contentment, including the most essential aspects from a psychological perspective. What does it feel like to be contented? What are the conditions that produce contentment?

Recall again a satisfying time when everything seemed right: there was no need to alter what you were doing, who you were with, or where you were. During such moments life is rich and full. The mingled buzz of worries, fears and anxieties that so often circle your head like a swarm of hungry mosquitoes is quieted. Instead of judging or second guessing yourself, you are satisfied just to be. Even the old familiar voice of desire , the disturbance in your mind that cries out like a needy child, I want, I want, I want, is somehow settled. Contentment feels peaceful as the moonlight at the bottom of a stream, tranquil and constant change.

Now. Here. This is it. Contentment gives you a different experience of time; your mind stops wandering into the past or future. As modern people we waste so much time wishing we were in a different circumstance, which of course is quite impossible. You could call contentment being in love with the moment, not just dutifully accepting it like an arranged marriage but passionately, rapturously embracing the eternal now as your soul mate.

Contentment grows out of a willingness to surrender preconceived ideas and affirm reality as it is. Honouring “what is” is just the opposite of living out of “ just as soon as” mentality. Reality doesn’t always go the way you would like. When this happens you can either become frustrated and redouble your efforts to push reality around, or you can learn to accept, affirm, even dance with what is given.

Contentment- a way to true happiness by Rober A. Johnson & Jerry M. Ruhl

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