How Does One Secure Contentment In Their Current Life?
We exist in a society that tells you you will find happiness if you just work hard enough. But happiness isn’t a destination. There is no checklist that you have to tick off to finally be happy. Being happy is a state of mind that one can access at any point in their life. Unfortunately, it is simply impossible to exist in happiness all the time. We are human beings which means we experience an array of emotions. What we can have all day every day is contentment.
What Does Being Content Mean?
Contentment means you are satisfied with what you have and where you are. It doesn’t prevent you from striving for more at the same time. And yet, most people aren’t able to be content with their current lives. They spend their time sad or disappointed or stressed, working to reach outward life goals that they think will create the happiness they are after. This mindset keeps millions of people trapped in unhappiness and perpetuates an attitude that one must sacrifice one’s self to be happy.
If you can’t tell by now I think it’s utter stupidity that needs to be stopped. So I am going to help you break this mindset by showing you ways to be content in your daily life. Not to toot my own horn but I am kind of an expert at this considering I have been content at periods of friendlessness, job instability, and tight finances.
Contentment Means Recognizing What You Have
Contentment is about changing your state of mind. The best way to change your state of mind is to start expressing more gratitude. Gratitude is such a powerful emotion that it ripples out into every facet of how you see and act in the world. It will show you the things worth smiling about in your current situation. Simultaneously, it will attract more things to be grateful for because like attracts like. Who wouldn’t want to help someone who you knew was going to truly appreciate it and spread the joy?
There are two choices of gratitude exercises from here:
- Keep a daily gratitude journal
- At the start of each morning, speak out loud all the things you are grateful for
If you are currently thinking I have nothing to be grateful for, you are most definitely wrong. I don’t care how bad your situation is, there is ALWAYS something to be grateful for. Start small.
Do you have shelter, food, water, and air? Is there a neighbor that gives you a genuine smile every time they see you? Do you have hobbies? Use your five senses to think of small experiences you have during the day that makes you feel good. You could say I’m grateful it’s watermelon season this month. Or I’m grateful my customer was understanding when I made a mistake. You could say I’m grateful my favorite character lived happily ever after in the series I’m binging. Don’t let yourself stop until you have at least 10 things to be grateful for.
Don’t Take Everything So Seriously
Hey, you’re alive. What an absurd and silly thing it is to exist in 3 dimensions with a meat machine containing an endless expansion of thoughts and ideas. Yes, there are a million and one things you could spend all day worrying about. But the truth is one day no matter what you do, you will die. But until then you are alive which means you can laugh and experience joy so let yourself!!! We may not know why we were created but I can tell you it wasn’t to be miserable.
The minute you take everything a little less seriously is the minute you start having more fun throughout the day. Do something stupid in front of a person you wanted to impress and laugh at yourself. They probably will like you even better for it. If they don’t, are they really worth your time? One of the greatest skills you can have in life is knowing what to take seriously (ie. your health and well-being and the planet’s and others’ health and well-being) and what not to (ie. basically everything else).
Find Actionable Ways To Be Content With Your Current Life
Now that you’ve taken the time to appreciate the positive parts of your life, let’s figure out what you feel is lacking. Make a list of what you think you need in your life to be happy. Now write down why. This why needs to be because of how it will make you feel. Next, write down why you don’t feel this way internally. You will start to see there that the feeling you are searching for is a lot more achievable in your present circumstances than you thought.
Look Internally For Contentment
The reason you should be spending more time on the feelings you want to experience in life rather than the circumstances is that many times the circumstances you thought would bring you those feelings don’t. The amount of people that think they will finally be happy and relaxed once they reach a certain level of career success but aren’t is astonishingly high. We place too much value on external achievements to bring the internal peace we are after when life has shown us time and time again that it won’t.
Happiness will always be born internally so it’s time to start cultivating it in the life you currently live. Good luck!
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Nicole Asherah is an artist who connects people to intimate moments, feelings, and relationships experienced throughout life through her poetry, paintings, and photography. Her upcoming book, A Life Cycle: A Guide to Healing and Rediscovering Yourself, is available for preorder now here. It is out all places books are sold on March 14th! Please see her work at nicoleasherah.com
Check out my quiz Where are you in your life cycle? to better understand what you need right now to grow and become the best version of yourself.
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