My
dictionary offers a definition of content
as having or showing no desire for something more or different. Hmm…Is that an
accurate enough definition? I say no.
How
content do you feel right now? How contented would you say most of the people
you know are right now? How many truly contented people do you know? Maybe it
takes more than one hand for you to count them on, but possibly not. So, the
next question would have to be: what’s up with that; why is true contentment as rare as it is? To be contented is never
to be confused with or mistaken as being resigned (reconciled) or acquiescent,
which means to consent quietly without protest and without enthusiasm. So, what does it or might it mean to be
content?
G. K.
Chesterson wrote: “True contentment is a real, even an active, virtue—not only
affirmative but creative. It is the power of getting out of any situation all
there is in it. Being content with an attic ought not to mean being unable to
move from it and resigned to living in it, it ought to mean appreciating all
there is in such a situation.” I think it’s safe to say that Chesterson would
agree with me about the dictionary definition: it doesn’t go far enough,
because you can certainly be content and still desire, go for, and attain
improvement simultaneously.
Contentment is a form of appreciation.
Appreciation is the most “attractive” or magnetic energy you can emit to the
Universe’s Reflected Back to You Manifestation Center. (“If the only prayer you
ever say is ‘Thank you,’ it will be enough.”) One reason contentment is so rare
is that we are bombarded with messages from all directions about what we should
be, do, and have. Consider commercials: what is the main message of many if not
most of them? “If you don’t have this, look like this, have access to
this”—whatever “this” is they want to sell you on, “then you’re less than WE,
and anyone else who goes along with us, think you should be; and you should believe you’re less too.” Yes,
“they” sell a number of products and services that do benefit us and or meet a
specific need, but what they mostly hook us into buying whatever they’re
selling with, or longing to do so or be able to, is…envy.
If we
use Chesterson’s attic premise, you can certainly want and choose to live
elsewhere, but you don’t have to choose to be miserable until you move. It’s
the same for anything. And, no amount of envy of what others have will provide
a remedy, just more misery. The envy “they” (and “they” are a large and varied
group) want you to buy into can lead to avarice, another form of misery; and
“they” pretty it up by calling it economic opportunity: There’s a difference.
“Flashy things” can be quite nice, but if you crave them because you believe
you’ll feel you’re more or somehow whole once you have them, you affirm
lack—not just of stuff but in Self; and that is the energy you emit and
therefore attract with. If you chase flashy things for the same reason, you
take detours from your true path. If the absence of them or even the having of
them torments you in any way, your contentment is being stolen from you—by you.
How
much is really enough for you? Who defines this for you? If it isn’t you and
only you defining this, someone else is driving your life and contentment bus.
I’m not saying no one needs a mansion, but how much house do most people really
need? Who do they need it for? I’m not picking on houses—they are just an easy
reference for this purpose. This applies to anything and everything that we
convince ourselves that we need in
order to be content, when we really don’t need it, especially if having it
creates headaches rather than true contentment. What’s often happening in such
situations is we want to end the discontent our envy causes in us; and for
some, create envy in others about what we have—because we are not content
within ourselves with ourselves. Contentment, like happiness, is an inner job
and choice.
Contentment
based in appreciation is a creative energy. Getting what’s there for you out of
any circumstance you’re in takes creativity. If you’re bored with your life or
bored in any particular moment, you are not contented, nor are you exercising
your inherent creativity. And if you go in the opposite direction of
contentment, you may find yourself in Greedland, or even Slothland—the land of
the idle who complain but make no creative effort to create positive shift.
Slothland is not the same as having moments or periods of repose, when you
repossess any mental, physical, or emotional energy you’ve expended, in order
to rebalance peace of mind and inner harmony, or recharge your inner batteries
or heal.
Contentment
leads to kindness and allows us to maximize moments and experiences because
true contentment does not entertain envy. It understands that if something is
truly needed or desired, there are creative, constructive, productive ways to
accomplish or attain whatever is desired, from both the inner and outer levels.
Contentment understands that mutually-beneficial
is always and evermore a better, more desirable path and result; whereas envy
is about one-upmanship, an ultimately lonely, usually frustrating road to
travel or destination to stay in, even if there are others around you in that
“club.” Admiration inspires, ignites, and creates; envy destroys and depletes.
I
think true contentment feels like this favorite affirmation of mine: It’s not about what you can get from the
flow, but that you get into the flow. (I get a delicious shiver every time
I feel the Truth of that statement.) True contentment reflects the relationship
we have with ourselves and especially with Source. It reflects the trust we
have in ourselves and the One Source of all our strength, support, and supply
as well as what that union can produce. Inner peace and serenity based on this
trust is true contentment, no matter what is going on or isn’t in a moment in
time.
We can
be content and continue to create and
improve as we go; we can be content with and while in this process. In this
way, contentment is the secret sauce that makes life like a meal offered in
courses, where each course is given the time and attention to be savored.
Contentment born out of genuine appreciation adds flavor, texture, and richness
to our life experience. It’s a good practice, one you’ll appreciate.
Practice makes progress.
© Joyce L. Shafer
You are welcome to use this article in your
newsletter or on your blog/website as long as you use my complete bio with it.
Joyce L. Shafer is a Life Empowerment
Coach dedicated to helping people feel, be, and live their true inner power.
She’s author of “I Don’t Want to be Your Guru, But I Have Something to Say” and
other books/e-books, and publishes a free weekly online newsletter that offers
empowering articles. See all that’s offered by Joyce and on her site at http://stateofappreciation.weebly.com
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