Contentment

This morning, I was reading my Bella Grace Magazine again. The entry by Nancy Tichenor, was about finding contentment in the every day. We often spend our time looking for the adventure, wondering why our lives aren't as exciting as everyone else's. Social media is a huge trigger for being discontent. Seemingly, all the folks around us, the people we follow across the world, those we know and those we don't are all living a life that is much more exciting than ours...and it feels as though their lives are that way all of the time.

We know it's not true... at least deep down we do, or we should. I'm guilty of posting the highlights of my life. Who would want to follow me if I told the real, everyday struggles in my life? Is there not room for being real? Some have found a way to connect authentically. Others just keep up the facade that life is always good.

The truth is that life isn't always good. Life is full of struggles. Life isn't fair. Living is hard; however, the flip side is that life does have exciting moments, times of adventure, travel, milestones, joy... Ultimately, it's what we do with life's moments that makes the difference in how we live... with contentment or without.

Growing up, my mom had a framed greeting card on her bedside table. It read, "Contentment is not the fulfillment of what you want, but the realization of how much you already have." (author unknown). I must have read this quote thousands of times. It pops in my head now and again, but if the word "contentment" is mentioned, my mind cannot help but pull up this truth immediately.

The realization of what we have is hard to identify when we are continually looking at what others are doing. How can we help but compare? When we compare, how to we find contentment? It's a struggle. At times it feels as though everyone else has it better. Everyone else is living a life of adventure... all of the time. Subconsciously, we must know that's not true, but when we fill our minds with images of what feels like perfect lives, it's debilitating... at least that's been my experience.

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"Contentment is not the fulfillment of what you want

but the realization of how much you already have."

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How do we find contentment in the every day of life? In my opinion, finding contentment is critical to living a life well-lived. That doesn't mean it's easy. Bella Grace Magazine poses the prompt: "What does contentment look like to you?"

For me, for today, contentment in my everyday life is settling in to the far corner of my white couch in the living room. I nestle down, pull my white, faux fur blanket over my lap, sip my coffee, woo my Chocolate Lab, Scout, to rest his head next to me and dive into reading or writing. Sometimes the feeling of contentment in this space is so strong that I cannot get up. Sometimes not getting up, is a step away from contentment and a step toward "stuck." Being stuck is fodder for another day.

Today, I will find contentment in the realization of how much I already have. I challenge you to do the same.