the art of contentment
What a waste (and common human condition) it is to not appreciate what we have when we have it.
It’s like the saying, “youth is wasted on the young.” Like not appreciating your health, beauty, current level of success or freedom, etc.
Life is always in motion, never static. As seasons shift and change, we will experience losses and gains, and, in a life well-lived, if it’s what we want and work for, we’ll keep growing til the grave.
This means there will always be change. We never know when we’ll have an experience for the last time. We rarely know when we’ve got it that we’re at our peak level of strength or thinness or any other metric.
This is not to say I believe in a perspective of “peaking” or looking back and thinking life could never get better than it was “then” (high school, certain point in your career, whatever the time period…). I’m not a fan of this. I think if we stay with ourselves, our own self-knowing and evolution, and a love for life, we can continue to experience our next best season over and over, rather than looking back on old memories “when things were the best they’ll ever be.”
But, to a certain extent, maybe specific areas of life will have their own expirations, and I was thinking specifically today about common it is to think you’re ugly or too fat, then to see photos of yourself further into the future and realize you looked fabulous and wish you looked like that again (and the cycle continues). This isn’t necessary. We can step off that wheel, difficult though it may be.
Perhaps instead, we can practice the art of contentment. The rebellious acts of gratitude and joy. Noticing everything going right in our lives and all that we are thankful for.
Sometimes I have a hard time keeping rampant complaints out of my mind and mouth. Sometimes it’s difficult to shift away from negativity.
“It is easy to be heavy; hard to be light.” -G.K. Chesterton
I am not interested in choosing a life of only what is easy. We can do what’s hard, and the path of light is the better path. Be light.
This means not dragging myself or others down with complaints or cynicism or poor-me’s.
This means appreciating what we have when we have it. Realizing how good things are. Not allowing the everyday magic to be lost on us. Not begrudging ourselves delirious joy. Not holding out on satisfaction until “one day.”
The day is here. The time has come. We are pretty enough, strong enough, rich enough…
There is nothing wrong with us, and we’re right where we should be, and the millions of gifts in our lives are worth celebrating. Today and every day. We will keep growing in the direction of who we’re meant to be, and we will always be enough.
