“At some point, you gotta let go, and sit
still, and allow contentment to come to you.”
― Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat,
Pray, Love
“Are you happy, sis?”
My big brother was concerned about
me when I found myself living fifteen hundred miles from my family. We’re a
close-knit clan, my seven siblings and I, even though we range in age up to
twenty-one years apart. Up until I moved away, all eight of us lived in the
same town. Always had.
So on his first visit to my new home
half a country away from everyone else, my brother slipped an arm around my
waist as I stood at the sink washing up after dinner. “Are you happy, sis?”
I smiled. “I’m content.”
Seeking happiness seems to be
an ongoing thing for most people, and something they never really achieve.
Contentment, on the other hand, can be had even when one’s life is not perfect
or joyful or “happy.”
Would I rather have been living
around my family? Well, of course I would. But circumstances made it impossible
at that point in time. So I had to let go of all the angst that came with
leaving the familiar. I had to be still and know that God is God, and that He
had a purpose in placing me that far from my family and friends. When I did
those two things, sincerely and with an honest heart, then contentment came to
me, and I could live without dwelling on how far away I was from everything
that meant “home”to me.
Contentment came with opening my
eyes to the blessings that surrounded me instead of looking back at the ones
I’d left behind.
As someone once said, God placed our
eyes in the front of our heads so we could look forward. Looking back is
counterproductive, and hampers forward motion. It also breeds discontent;
discontent brings dissatisfaction; dissatisfaction steals joy; and where
there’s a lack of joy, discontent takes root. The only way to escape the
vicious cycle is to “let go, sit still, and let contentment come to you.”
"Contentment is not the fulfillment of what you want. It is the realization of how much you already have."
—Author
Unknown
This makes much sense to me at this time in my life. Thanks, friends. xoxox
ReplyDeleteSo glad, Miss Tanya! Hope it encouraged you a bit. :)
DeleteThis was a beautiful post today. You are so right that contentment must always come first and happiness is fleeting. We may not like the circumstances we're in but if we can become content we can find the happiness we seek.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Kristena! I'm so glad you enjoyed the post.
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