Learning to be Content

---

Over the years, we have witnessed the rise of hustle culture and the constant demand for more. More money, more views, more likes, more everything. Our society, now more than ever, demands more out of everything in life. I think it can be good to desire more, but only if our desire for more is regulated. I think that we can do a great deal to ourselves to learn the art of contentment. Let’s explore this topic together.

On the 31^st of January 2020, I registered this blog site. I can’t exactly remember what my train of thought was at the time but all I knew is I had something to give to the world. I can’t pretend that the conversation of metrics wasn’t playing in my head because it was. I imagined what this blog could turn out to be. I imagined the possibility of touching hundreds, thousands and possibly millions of lives. 

Fast forward to the 17^th of July of the same year, I published my first post titled “I don’t know what I’m doing”. It was a post that I had made while in bed, a few hours after I had woken up. To date, that post has a total of 28 views and 1 comment. Starting out, I didn’t expect to have phenomenal statistics, but it did not take long into my blogging journey for me to arrive at a place of constant demand for more.

I won’t lie to you, developing the habit of being content is one that I have personally struggled with. Mostly because I think I have lived under the notion that societal acceptance and relevance rests on how much of a given thing we possess. To an extent, I think most people would agree that it does feel that way sometimes. We are constantly being bombarded with silent inferences that relate to how much money, skill, educational qualification, relationship success, etc. we have. Our possessions, whatever they may be, feel like the measure of success.

I have some questions. How much are we willing to possess before we can say “this is enough”? What does enough even mean in our society? Please, if you do have answers to those questions, share them with me. I think for us to reach a place where we can say “this is enough”, we must understand and apply the concept of being content. 

Content – “satisfied with what one is or has; not wanting more or anything else.”

I believe the concept of being content dates to the very beginning of the world itself. In Genesis 1: 31a, the Bible tells us that “God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good …”. I heard this verse explained in a way I hadn’t heard before by @disruptedfaithpodcast and realised that even the Creator Himself was content with what He had made. God saw that what He had made was good. For me, this has been the beginning of the conversation around what it truly means to be content. 

Firstly, don’t get me wrong, I think it’s okay to want more out of life, but as I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I think we should have some regulations. I think the story of our lives should tell about what we did with what we had as opposed to how much we chased what we didn’t have. Not only does contentment encourage us to be more grateful, but I think it also encourages us to be more faithful with the resources that are before us. In this world, there will always be the next best thing, always. So, whether we like it or not, by choice or by circumstance, at some point in our lives we are going to have to learn how to be content with what we have. So why wait for contentment to be a last resort when it can be one of the things that shape our decision making? How beautiful would it be to be able to say, “that’s enough”?

Secondly, I think contentment diverts our attention to realising the things in life that truly matter. It matters to be able to find value and meaning with where you are and what you have. It’s almost a superpower that is ever so rare these days. The only thing that we have a bit of control over is the present moment. We can’t control the past, It’s behind us. We can’t control the future, it’s beyond us. Tomorrow has troubles of its own. The problem I have with constantly wanting more is what results out of that. We’ve heard about people that chased the paper until it became unhealthy. Until they realised that constantly chasing more without enjoying the current moment is a step that is closer to misery than it is to satisfaction. 

Finally, I think being content is necessary to having peace in your life. Believe me when I say there are only a few things that are as stressful as thinking about how much more you can/should have. It’s peaceful to be content with where you are or what you have. Going back to my second point, you can’t control the future! No matter how hard you try. The best thing that you can do is influence what your future can look like. Again, this can only be done in the present and we all know that most times, the best decisions in life are made when we are at ease. Allow me to extend that the best decisions in life are made when we are content!

It’s not a strange thing to realise that there aren’t many things in life that we have control over. With change being a constant part of life, the only thing we can control is how we live in the present. To do that we will need a few tools. Being content is one of those tools that we need to have if we are ever going to live happy lives. It’s a virtue that all of us must desire because, at the end of the day, we will never find satisfaction in our constant demand for more. We will only ever be satisfied when we learn to be content. 

---

Hey! Thanks for reading this post. I’m interested in hearing what your thoughts are so please leave a comment below. Also if you liked this post please consider leaving a like and subscribe for more! See you in the next one!

Social Accounts

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/creatdonpurpose/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Created-on-Purpose-107714391516213/