Desperately Seeking Contentment

Paul wrote that he had learned to be content no matter what the state he found himself. (Phil 4:11-12) I have been thinking a lot about his statements as of late, and have committed my heart to the pursuit of contentment. There is so much talk about happiness and what it takes to achieve it and furthermore what would be required to maintain it. Happiness we know is fleeting and requires many variables in order to be maintained. I think it can be inferred from Paul’s statement that contentment was a learned behavior, something one would have to train their mind in order to obtain and to maintain.

I think a key component in learning contentment is to realize that in the end, we really have little control over most circumstances. Sometimes our actions instigate a reaction, but often time things happen to us that we have little to no control over at all. Our company downsizes, and we are part of the size that’s going down, or we have an auto accident that causes us to lose our transportation… any number of things can cause our situation to change. Our challenge, when circumstances change, for better or for worse is to find contentment in our present. I know often we think of the challenge of finding contentment when things are not going according to plan, but we must also learn a spirit of gratefulness when things are going according to plan. Ironic isn’t it. Oftentimes, I encounter people whose lives are going down an almost charmed path yet they feel uneasy as if something is going to come along and drastically change their happy into sad, so that even in the times of plenty, they are not content because of a sense of foreboding that inhibits them from fully enjoying the state that they’ve found themselves.

So how do we learn contentment? I believe it begins with training our minds towards gratefulness. When we cultivate the spirit of thanksgiving in our lives, even for small things, we teach our brain to think of our situations as an opportunity to recognize God’s goodness and grace in our everyday situations. In Simple Abundance, by Sarah Ban Breathnach, it is suggested that we keep a gratitude journal and each day write down at least five things for which we are thankful. I think if we do that and follow Paul’s other advice to find whatever is beautiful (Phil 4:8) and focus on those things, we can learn to be content, no matter what situation in which we find ourselves. I am up to the challenge, I hope that you are as well. Blessings… sk