I Make An Issue Of Contentment

Patrice Lewis writes An Issue of Contentment and quotes a book:

For some reason that phrase – she was happy then and didn’t know it – stayed with me. And it made me wonder: how many of us are happy but don’t appreciate it, know it, or realize it?

“Happiness” is such a loaded and multi-faceted word that no one can really define what it means for them. It’s different for everyone. Happiness can be found even in places and circumstances you may not like; but it’s often there, buried among the less enjoyable parts. Facets of happiness (contentment, satisfaction, pride of achievement, etc.) can all contribute to the overall qualities of the emotion.

I think what haunts me about the notion of being happy and not realizing it, is how many of us let overall happiness slide through our fingers because we’re too concerned with little things we don’t like. Anyone who takes their health for granted and then loses it, for example, will appreciate how much happier they were when their health was good.

That’s why this moment of contentment was so powerful.

This little bit of John Hughes’ best movie, She’s Having a Baby, has stuck with me over the years:

As you know, gentle reader, I struggle with feeling contentment. I have given it plenty of thought this summer. I’ve made a habit the last two years to step into the pool in the evenings if only for a couple of minutes, because I have a pool. And I’ve watched the sunset and have really, really tried to be content, enumerating things that I have, including the things I would never have dreamed of in my youth.

I suppose it’s because I don’t know if I’ve earned what I have, nor that I have much control over whether I can keep it. Maybe the next book on mindfulness will cure me, but perhaps not. Perhaps my efforts in something will yield the intended result (aside from a cleaner house after the weekend or trimmed weeds in the summer or even a freshly painted room sometime when I get around to it). Most likely, I’ll bet on the book.