Contentment

Seriously, people- what is it we're looking for?

I search online for 'Content Life' and I see articles on Christianity and minimalism. I'm no conspiracy theorist, but being content is so anathema to everyone trying to sell us crap that Google goes to great lengths to make sure nothing interesting shows up.

Contentment hides in plain site, but we've been trained not to see it. We remain dissatisfied. We add needless complexity to our lives, creating more problems that require even more expensive and complicated solutions. We all have very different crosses to bear, but by way of example, golf and home ownership are perfect metaphors:

Exhibit A: You like nature and your Doctor tells you to get more exercise, so you take up golf. You get a set of eBay clubs, whack around a bit, then start making golf friends. Your buddies have superior skills and equipment, and over the next year or two, you take some lessons. You start caring about your handicap. As the yearly spend goes into the thousands, you just can't seem to get where you want to be. It's incredibly frustrating, and maybe those Callaway irons will finally get you there. But where's there?

Exhibit B: You move into a neighborhood with modest, but nice houses, convenient access to work, and a great support network. However, you're bombarded by ads for the nicer subdivision just a little further outside of town. After years of this, the dissatisfaction starts to creep into your conversation with your partner. We deserve better. We've earned it! What's the point of all this work if we aren't going to reward ourselves? And so you move, committing yourself to another $200k of debt, thousands of dollars in Pottery Barn, Plow & Hearth, and garden center costs, and surround yourself with like-minded people. Now, however, you have a longer commute, you never see your children, you drop your golf hobby since you no longer have time, what with all the home maintenance, and holy shit, if one of us loses our jobs, the whole house of cards falls. You take a selfie of the two of you with your wine glasses on your Trex deck to make sure the folks back in the old 'hood know you're rockin' it, but are you truly happy? Obviously, some people are; there's no denying it. But how much of this is your dream, and how much of it is a chimera sponsored by homebuilders, television shows, and instagram?

Even as I type this, I ask myself, "What's the point?"

I guess my point is this: We all have to give ourselves permission to be content. If we're not content, we need to ask ourselves if this imbalance comes from within (are we malcontent?) or without (am I being told that I'm not content?). If it's from within, we're empowered to do something about it, and should. If it's from without, we're empowered to reject it, continue on with our head up and own ourselves, our decisions, and our right to be satisfied with our lives.