Contentment
Are you contented with your life? Someone asked me this recently and I immediately zoomed into the parts of my life that I'm dissatisfied with. I'd like a higher-paying job; my relationships could have been improved; wouldn't it be nice if I could pick out whatever I like in the hippest fashion boutique? I frowned, but wait…. am I really that discontented with my life?
I guess when being asked a question like that, many would visualise how their ideal life should be and instantly compare it with what they have now, realise that they're no where near their goals, and simply say that they are not contented with their lives. But hang on there….. was this so-called 'ideal' life carved somewhere on a stone and passed down over generations by our fore-fathers? Who then told us that in order to be contented, we've got to get the latest titanium card, slick body kit, town club membership, that gorgeous babe with a cute ass who can cook in the day and transport you to heaven thrice a night? Okay, I'm getting a little carried away with this, but my point here is that the society we live in had conditioned us to desire for such pleasures of the senses.
"Marketers estimate that we see 3000 advertisements per day. If you sleep 7 hours a night and don't dream ads, that's about 180 ads per hour or 3 ads per minute. Those ads are designed to trigger discontent-inviting us to want a car, house, job, vacation, computer or relationships that we do not now have." – Extracted from www.wooddale.org
Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that it's wrong for us to be ambitious and want these ideals. If you've got the drive, by all means, go get it. But what happens when you realise that it's beyond your ability and means to achieve that ideal? Are you going to be unhappy and discontented for the rest of your life?
How then can we be contented? Ahh… that timeless question.
The key is to re-align your ideals.
I actually just did that yesterday when I was rather unhappy about a particular part of my life. It had been bugging me for several weeks, especially when under the influence of friends. That's right. Friends can sometimes wreak havoc in our easily-confused minds. Then I snapped myself out of this bitterness and asked myself: Are my friends actually leading my life? Was I still happy before I'm being told that there's a happier version of my life? Shouldn't I even be thanking my lucky stars that I even have a life like this to worry about? Which brought me to this scene I saw on Tango & Cash the other day when Sylvester Stallone and Kurt Russell were in a truck, trying to get away from the bad guys. In the midst of the excitement, Russell told Stallone that he's got a good news and a bad news and asked which he'd like to hear first. Stallone asked for the bad news and Russell said, "we're almost outta gas." Stallone then asked for the good news and Russell replied, "we're almost outta gas!"
So after having to think about all this while my friend was waiting for my answer, the lines on my forehead smoothened out and my eyes brightened. "Yes," I replied, "I'm actually rather contented with my life at this present moment." Now won't that be a nice thought to bring home with you today?
"Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be."Abraham Lincoln
I guess when being asked a question like that, many would visualise how their ideal life should be and instantly compare it with what they have now, realise that they're no where near their goals, and simply say that they are not contented with their lives. But hang on there….. was this so-called 'ideal' life carved somewhere on a stone and passed down over generations by our fore-fathers? Who then told us that in order to be contented, we've got to get the latest titanium card, slick body kit, town club membership, that gorgeous babe with a cute ass who can cook in the day and transport you to heaven thrice a night? Okay, I'm getting a little carried away with this, but my point here is that the society we live in had conditioned us to desire for such pleasures of the senses.
"Marketers estimate that we see 3000 advertisements per day. If you sleep 7 hours a night and don't dream ads, that's about 180 ads per hour or 3 ads per minute. Those ads are designed to trigger discontent-inviting us to want a car, house, job, vacation, computer or relationships that we do not now have." – Extracted from www.wooddale.org
Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that it's wrong for us to be ambitious and want these ideals. If you've got the drive, by all means, go get it. But what happens when you realise that it's beyond your ability and means to achieve that ideal? Are you going to be unhappy and discontented for the rest of your life?
How then can we be contented? Ahh… that timeless question.
The key is to re-align your ideals.
I actually just did that yesterday when I was rather unhappy about a particular part of my life. It had been bugging me for several weeks, especially when under the influence of friends. That's right. Friends can sometimes wreak havoc in our easily-confused minds. Then I snapped myself out of this bitterness and asked myself: Are my friends actually leading my life? Was I still happy before I'm being told that there's a happier version of my life? Shouldn't I even be thanking my lucky stars that I even have a life like this to worry about? Which brought me to this scene I saw on Tango & Cash the other day when Sylvester Stallone and Kurt Russell were in a truck, trying to get away from the bad guys. In the midst of the excitement, Russell told Stallone that he's got a good news and a bad news and asked which he'd like to hear first. Stallone asked for the bad news and Russell said, "we're almost outta gas." Stallone then asked for the good news and Russell replied, "we're almost outta gas!"
So after having to think about all this while my friend was waiting for my answer, the lines on my forehead smoothened out and my eyes brightened. "Yes," I replied, "I'm actually rather contented with my life at this present moment." Now won't that be a nice thought to bring home with you today?
"Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be."Abraham Lincoln
posted by Devilsoup at
7:59 AM
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