NE Life Coach and Contentment

What is contentment?

“He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have.”  Socrates

Well the Cambridge Dictionary defines contentment as: happiness and satisfaction, often because you have everything you need.

Does this suggest that we don’t want more or even less of anything? Surely we do want more of some things and less of others don’t we?  Where does this want come from?  Is it from contentment or a place of discontent?

If we are happy and satisfied with how things are, how could we want something more or different?

Which leads me to question if we really want to be content? Or does that mean that we will never anything else to aspire to? Or perhaps contentment is the aspiration in itself? If it is, is that ok? Hmmm in a bit of a loop now aren’t we?

How do we know when we are content?

I was reading something recently about someone who was so thankful for a situation that many of us would see as horrendous.  I’m sure you’ve read many similar articles and those people really are an inspiration.  Their view on life is so positive and they even express gratitude for the whatever caused their current circumstances.
I’m sure we can also recall people whose circumstances have sent them on a downwards spiral.

So what’s the difference? What is it that causes one rather than the other?
How do some people learn to shift their thinking and mindset from enduring or surviving something to not only using it but thriving because of it?
It’s this shift in thinking and their focus.  Yet, isn’t that all any of us can really change?  How we view things from our mountaintop is our responsibility; it’s our view alone.

It can certainly be challenging in the world of today.  Think of the adverts you see on TV and how their goal seems to be to create a sense of discontentment with our lives.  A discontent that can only be overcome by buying whatever they are selling!  Things and stuff that we probably don’t need.  They certainly wouldn’t be on our list if we were to write down what was important to us in our life.

So, taking that step to shift our mindset and refocus our thinking can be uncomfortable at times.  My invitation to you is to consider what it is that you have in your own life that you are tolerating or enduring?  What would happen if you shifted your own thinking and focused on the lessons from it; the gifts it gives you.

We don’t know what we will find until we open it up.

“Many people lose the small joys in the hope for the big happiness” Pearl S. Buck

If you would like help in making any of these changes,