I feel like humanity is in a mad rash for happiness. I won’t get into consumerism, which I feel has been covered extensively but it’s worth noting the many ways we delude ourselves. I think happiness, or the quest for it is the major driver of human action.
We might say we want a fulfilling career, financial independence or a great relationship. All these things are good but underlying all the ‘wants’ is the feeling of happiness. Truth be told, it’s a feeling that we are after, not the actual thing. If a genie could grant you a permanent state of happiness, I wonder with how much zeal you would pursue a great career or financial independence or anything that’s important to you in your life right now.
Not many people will tell you to chase contentment. There are all these quotes about being happy and living a happy life but not enough is said about contentment. Personally I think contentment is an ideal worth pursuing and one that is far more achievable than happiness.
Happiness, at least to me, feels like a destination or something to work towards. You are not happy today but if you play your cards right; you might be happy tomorrow. Happiness also seems to rely on something usually a goal, objective, achievement or some sort of ‘something’. I don’t think I have ever heard anyone become happy for no reason. The phrase I am familiar with;
‘Why are you so happy?’
‘I’m happy because…’
It also seems to me that happiness implies something else; it’s opposite sadness. What feeling do you have before you ‘arrive’ at happiness?
From where I sit happiness can hardly be described as a permanent state. It’s always fleeting, situational and dependent on some other object or pursuit. Unless you are a Buddhist sage who can reach ecstasy from contemplating a blade of grass (that’s how I imagine sages), happiness to me seems a lot like the hamster and the wheel.
Contentment Seems Nice…
I think the foundation for contentment is to be comfortable with what is. Contentment doesn’t necessarily imply the achievement of something or caused by something else. Contentment is simply being comfortable with everything that’s going one even when you don’t necessarily think its ideal. I think contentment is also a far more sustainable feeling. You only need to remind yourself (other times you may need to convince yourself) that everything is fine just the way it is.
If the situation requires changing, you are content taking the action rather than seeing the action as an undesirable means to an end.
Contentment shouldn’t be confused with lethargy or resignation though and I can appreciate that there is a thin line separating the two. It is possible to want better things for yourself and at the same time comfortable with what is. Contentment is also a foundation for happiness. As long as you are content, you always have solid ground to stand on and aren’t too concerned with feeling happy.
Contentment and gratitude are inseparable. Contentment implies not just acceptance of what’s going on at the moment, but gratitude for it. Once contentment becomes a prevailing attitude in your life, there is little in life that can upset your balance. The little annoyances come and go with little lasting impact in your state of being.
What are you searching for?
On The Way to Find the Way 