TO BE RADICALLY CONTENT
A couple of years ago I became aware that striving is not good for my health. That I am making myself sick with the incessant striving.
What Is Contentment? Contentment means to be happy with what you have, who you are, and where you are. It is respecting the reality of the present. It is appreciating what you do have and where you are in life.
So how does contentment differ from happiness? Happiness is typically characterized by an intense and fleeting emotion and contentment is a longer-lasting, stable sense of peace and satisfaction.
In a world that is constantly pushing us toward attitudes of instant gratification, choosing contentment is a radical act. It is an act of activism. It is a push against the norm.
Contentment is a feeling that brings out a lot of insecurity and even anger in others. The mainstream media and advertisers hate it. What do you mean you are content with your not perfectly toned, continually aging, non-photo-shopped body? How can you be when we have stuff to sell that can fix you?
According to the Bible, contentment is the sweet inward state of perpetual joy, peace, gentleness and strength in every moment, regardless of our circumstances. Paul spoke about that while he was in prison. Imagine being in prison and being content? How radical is that?
Everyone is looking for contentment, but it seems to elude most people. We may be happy and feel secure temporarily, but when circumstances change, our contentment vanishes instantly.
In Philippians 4:10–13, the apostle Paul shares the secret of being content:
"I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me."
"Being 'contented' ought to mean in English, as it does in French, being pleased. Being content with an attic ought not to mean being unable to move from it and resigned to living in it; it ought to mean appreciating all there is in such a position". C.K. Chesterton
I am truly content. Content with my aging body, content with my wonderful husband of almost forty years, content with my one-hundred and twenty year old cottage with the red front door and content with my slow steadfast life!
