As an avid meditator and Wellbeing Mentor I’ve been spending a lot of time reflecting on what’s really important to me and encouraging my clients to do the same for themselves. If I’ve learned nothing else during the Covid19 pandemic, its how to be content and to actually value contentment in a new and deeply respectful way. This past year has taught me a lot and I began to realize that I lived in a mindset of never being satisfied, never being content, reaching a goal and not taking the time to rest in the accomplishments but quickly and often ungratefully moving to the next thing.
Living in contentment is an art many of us struggle to achieve because contentment isn’t valued. It’s often viewed as lazy or unambitious but nothing could be further from the truth. Contentment allows you to live fully engaged in the present, fully aware of your gifts and fully grateful for who you are in every moment. Contentment also allows you the opportunity to rest, reflect, appreciate and value every accomplishment, taking nothing for granted and being thankful for everything. Contentment gives you moments to breathe.
To be content you must first be aware of your value just as you are. You must connect with yourself, tap into you, the you you know yourself to be, not the you someone told you you should be. We’re taught to “chase”, “hustle”, “climb”, “grind” to find success in this life but rarely are we taught to simply “be content”. We don’t even allow children to be content, we begin teaching them to “grind” early and there is never a moment to just rest in getting to know who you are and what actually makes you feel alive. Sadly many of us live a lifetime striving without knowing what contentment ever felt like. We have the power to change that.
We often lose our contentment when we’re informed by others that the thing we were actually ok with is not enough. You may have enjoyed gardening until someone told you your garden wasn’t enough, you need a full blown nursery to supply other gardeners. Now you’re struggling to pull together something you have no passion for because your original intent now seems “less ambitious”. You were content with your garden, you got satisfaction from your garden. Your garden fed many in your neighborhood and you felt a deep sense of usefulness and gratitude in your gardening, then someone told you it wasn’t enough and you believed it. Let’s normalize allowing ourselves and others to define what contentment is for our lives and support that in a way the person needs support, not what we think they need….what they actually need to do the thing they desire to do, the thing that brings contentment to their lives, the thing that makes them feel alive.
I encourage you, consider a return to your first love, the thing the Lord whispered in your ear and heart at 12, 17, 21 years old….there you’ll find contentment. That thing was the seed planted and your life experience waters it, your knowledge cultivates it, your passion propels it and your God given purpose sustains it.
The Apostle Paul said “I’ve learned to be content in every situation.” He knew who he was, what he was designed to do and he lived his life in HIS purpose, not what others thought his purpose should be. Even when things got tight and uncomfortable he was still content with who he was and what his purpose was.
Maybe you’re like me and just learning to be content, learning what’s really important to you and learning what you bring to this world is valuable no matter how big or small. It’s ok to just now grasp contentment, even if you feel like you’re late to the contentment party you’re not. You’re landing right where you belong at this moment….and it’s not only ok, it’s a beautiful thing to be content with.
#contentment #selfexamination #purpose #awareness #mindfulness #selfcare #selfawareness