Contentment

What is contentment?

If you search in the dictionary, it would mean 'the state of being contented; satisfaction; ease of mind' which is very vague. Different people would have different definitions of contentment by their own standards.

To me, contentment is not the fulfillment of what you want. It is the realization of how much you already have.

And remember, the happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way.

Like what Leo Babauta wrote on his 'Zen Habits' (full article in here) website -

I’m definitely a goal-oriented person — I always have my eye on a goal, whether that’s writing a book, running a marathon, improving my blog, waking early, losing weight, or one of a dozen other goals I’ve had (and usually achieved) in the last couple of years. And once I’ve achieved a goal, I begin looking for another: now that I finished my second marathon, I’m already looking for a third.

So isn’t that a contradiction? Doesn’t that seem to indicate that I’m not content with my life? Not at all. I’m extremely content with my life, with what I have, and with who I am. I have accepted that I am the type of person who will always be striving for a goal, the type of person who enjoys a challenge, and who enjoys the journey. It’s not the goal that matters to me — it’s the journey to get there that is so fun. And I’m content with being that type of person.

So contentment isn’t a matter with being content with your situation in life and never trying to improve it. It’s a matter of being content with what you have — but realizing that as humans, we will always try to improve, no matter how happy we are. If we don’t, we have given up on life.

Below is a Taiwan advertisement clip which an amazing lady makes the best of everything in her life, which to me is a form of contentment.