Pursuing Contentment

Friday afternoon, and I am off work for the next week. When I was a child, becoming an adult was something I always wished for and dreamed about. Now I have been an adult for over 30 years. Much longer than I ever was a child.

The lesson learned is to take the time to enjoy where you are at. To pursue contentment, as hard as it is to pursue contentment it is worth it.

The pursuit of contentment means that you will need to cast off keeping up with people, comparing yourself with people, and lingering over long-lost mistakes.

Keeping Up, Comparing, Regret. These are just three of the many enemies of contentment.

They don’t disappear. Each day the trio shows up ready to introduce concepts that sway you away from contentment.

The truth is this. I have a choice. We have a choice. Some days the choice is easy to implement; other days, it is harder.

Again it is worth it. Worth pursuing contentment. How do you pursue contentment in a world that is wired to make you discontent?

Slowly. One moment at a time. You wake up in the morning and thank God, the creator of the universe, or whatever spiritual unity you subscribe to for another day of life. Even if you aren’t a spiritual person, being thankful is helpful.

Delay picking up your phone and checking your email. Sit with the tension and that fear of missing out. Ask yourself this, what is going to happen if you do miss out?

We miss out all the time. You are still breathing, right? Missing a call from a friend or loved one is missing out. Missing an alert from a news agency or a social media post isn’t missing out.

These are designed to steal your attention and make you discontent.

Instead, listen to some music, read a physical book, open the door, listen to the birds, and make your own coffee. Here is one final tip, when you pour the coffee, take time to listen to it as it flows from the coffee pot into your cup.

Then sit down and drink it, but just sit with the coffee. Resist the urge to read while you drink, just for a minute. That is how we work to get content with what we have in the present moment.