The Climb to Contentment - Is Contentment Really a Climb You Must Make?
Let's consider the climb to contentment.
You know, trying to figure out the climb to contentment doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me.
There really isn't any climb that you can take to feel content. Either you feel content or you don't.
In my mind, contentment is just a choice you decide to make for yourself.
"Contentment is natural wealth, luxury is artificial poverty." - Socrates
Contentment is also something very foreign in today's world. At least it sure is here in America where I live.
Very few people seem intent on a daily path of tranquility and wisdom.
Everything here is extremely focused on the climb to contentment. The constant barrage of commercial messages we see on TV and in print tell us that if we just buy that next "thing", maybe we'll feel contented.
But, it's never enough. Many people visit my site from outside America. I'd love some feedback on this issue from your perspective.
All I know is that the day I stopped feeling a need to look outward for inner peace and a contented feeling was the day I became free!
"There is no end of craving. Hence contentment alone is the best way to happiness. Therefore, acquire contentment." - Swami Sivananda
I hope you can go down this path.
Stop living your life for the car dealer, the CD manufacturer, the big screen TV nonsense, and especially the nasty credit card companies.
Instead of trying to make the climb to contentment, just look around yourself and see all the beauty you already see manifested in your life.
Feel contentment in all that you have. Understand that you don't need to acquire any more possessions in order for you to feel a sense of tranquility inside your soul.
However, as you look at the climb to contentment in a different light, this doesn't mean that you can't enjoy new experiences or possessions.
It doesn't mean you can't still strive for more.
It just simply means that you don't live for the climb to contentment anymore. You don't exist solely to purchase more stuff just for the sake of keeping up with your neighbor.
Instead, you know how wealthy you are already and only add to your "pile" for the enjoyment of your prosperity... not because you believe that a climb to contentment will finally make you happy.
You need to find happiness within first. Then you can enjoy your material world in a healthy manner.
You can discover contentment in gratitude.
"Contentment is a pearl of great price, and whoever procures it at the expense of ten thousand desires makes a wise and a happy purchase." - John Balguy
"Everyone chases after happiness, not noticing that happiness is right at their heels." - Bertolt Brecht
Change your life,
Matt
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