Contentment

This morning as I was sitting knitting I was thinking a bit about contentment. It almost seems like a rare and wonderful thing to be content these days. We live in a world of must have more, must have better, must have different than what we already have and in that kind of surrounding its hard to be content. I saw a commercial the other day that showed a bathroom, bedroom and table setting all in lovely fall colors, suggesting life isn't "beautiful" unless we have our houses decorated completely according to each season. That means we need to buy a lot of stuff, stuff that previous generations did fine without. In the end, will your life really be better because you have towels that match the colors of the season ? Or will your life and the lives of those in your family be improved by how many sets of dishes you have for each holiday ? We all know the answer to those questions. I can honestly say my life would not have been any better had my mother had dishes for each holiday. It was her love that made my life good, not her dishes or towels in the one bathroom all 6 of us shared.

We seem to have forgotten what contentment is. There are even some folk that just are so unsettled that they change the contents of their pantry as often as they shop, and carry that mindset on into just about every aspect of their lives. There is a lack of contentment in constant change. Maybe we need to stop looking at what others have and just find out what we need, what works for us and what is needed for a good family life.

Contentment is in the heart, not fed by whats in the wallet. It comes from a fullness of life and a sense of being sure of the things that really matter in the end and along the whole journey of life.

Maybe we need to think back to our fondest memories and see if they are tied to pretty table settings, towels to match the season, new cars, the kind of furniture we had, or are those precious memories of the things that involve relationships, love and moments in time that had nothing to do with money.

I always wonder what good new fancy things are to people, when they have splintered relationships with their own children or broken marriages. Finding contentment should be our highest goal and I think it comes when we have peace in our hearts that fills up that space so completely that we don't have to try and stuff it with things.

Needing less each and every day and finding simplicity full of the beauty I need in my life. The journey continues, another step with each dawn.