We all are god’s children. He has created the universe and all the human beings and creatures. All men are not equal. He has blessed everyone with different qualities. We must trust in his creation and should feel content with what we are bestowed upon.
We often feel jealous of other people around us. We look at their clothes, accessories, luxury, and success in career; studies etc. and compare with what we have. This does nothing but makes us sometimes feel incompetent and depressed. This exerts a bad impression on our mind and thus affects our mental well being as well.
Shakespeare once said- “ I cried when I had no shoes, so I stopped crying when I saw a man without legs.”
Also our great leader Mahatma Gandhi had always preached that whenever you feel that you have something less or feel inferior look at the people who are below you. You will feel grateful and lucky. God has bestowed you with so many qualities which others don’t have. We must focus on the good within us and forget the rest.
This little trick will change everything surely.
What does feeling content actually mean?
Have you ever tried to be grateful for what you have?
Have you felt the sense of complete and satisfied?
Feeling content is a feeling that comes from inside. It comes from within our heart. It is feeling satisfied and happy with what you have. It not just gives you enormous self confidence but also motivates to move forward in the right direction.
We are blessed with a wonderful body, the organ system, the senses but many of the people don’t have this also. Imagine your body without any of the organs or a missing sense. And even with this mis-happening they manage to smile and live so why not we? We are blessed and we must be thankful for that.
Not feeling content has many bad repercussions also like
- Hinders growth: Being content with what we do and what he has makes you feel motivated to do the work we are doing. It does not all mean that you must start improving yourself. Try to improve and grow but meanwhile learn to be content with what the situation is.
- Mental wellness: Mental wellbeing is important for normal and prosperous life of a person. Feeling of jealousy makes you feel depressed and mentally sick. It leads to chronic headache and sleeplessness also sometimes. This hinders your overall growth also sometimes. Thus we must be content with what you have.
- Bad relations: If you are in a bad mood it ultimately affects your personal lives as well. We often disseminate our anger and frustration on our near and dear ones. Anger is our biggest enemy. They become the victim of our wrath and ignorant behaviour. If you are not feeling satisfied and happy from within; you show it out also. This worsens your relationship with your kith and kin and disturbs the family life as well.
- Bad health: When we are not happy and content we start ignoring our health too. Proper sleep and mental well being is necessary for good physical health as well. A healthy mind resides in a healthy body. Therefore if we don’t keep our minds balanced it may lead to different types of health diseases like diabetes and blood pressure issues. Thus learn to feel content and satisfied and also be happy to live a sustainable and healthy life.
- Social distancing: The nature of a man is highly impacted by his thoughts and mental status. A man who is not content with his belongings means he is feeling jealous looking upon other people and their achievements. Thus he starts behaving immorally or rudely in social life too. It leads to fewer friends. Everyone likes to stay away from such pessimistic people.
Accept yourself, the person and situation as they are.
We often start to change ourselves and be like the people who we think are better than us. This is nothing but just a waste of mental and physical energy. We must start to feel peace at what we have and about the situation which is beyond our control.
One has to be more compassionate and keep patience. In the race of getting more than other; we often forget ourselves. We forget the joy of celebrating the present. And our whole life is wasted just in tension and comparisons.
The following illustration will help you understand the concept better
There was a person named George. He was addicted to junk food and fast food, and was overweight and unhealthy as well. He bought too many things on impulse, owned too much clutter, and was deeply in debt and struggling to make it to the next payday. He was unhappy with who he was, wanted to change desperately, tried a thousand different programs and books.
He was always worried as he was missing out on exciting things, and wanted so much to be out doing the fun things everyone else was doing. He was always kept on changing the way he did things, because it seemed everyone else had a better system or tools. He tried to do everything which everyone across him did so that he could achieve his goals and be happy like them.
And as he learned to be content, here was what changed:
He learned to be happy with healthier food, with less food, and his health improved and waistline shrunk. He relied on a good book, spending time with people he loved, going for a nice run … and his debt began to be reduced as he learned he didn’t need to spend money to enjoy. He learned to be happier with who he was, and what he was doing. So he no longer needed to try all kinds of new techniques that were done by others. He became happy with himself and spent leisure time, with those around him, and with what he had — and so didn’t need to strive to change everything. Letting go of goals helped him to simplify things and actually concentrate upon himself with patience. Thus he was self confident and motivated than ever before
How to be content with the present
Cultivate Awareness
The first step towards it is to become aware of your present i.e. think of the things you already have. Think of what you have achieved and the relations you have cherished. Living in the present not only makes us joyous but also be content and satisfied. ‘Acknowledging the present means being grateful for what you have. It can be done by making a list of things for which you are grateful. This practice must be done in the early morning. Write at least 5 things daily for which you are thankful.
Few illustrations for which you can be thankful are:
- Thanks for the beautiful morning and this life.
- Thanks for the fit body and all the organs and senses that are working perfectly.
- Thanks for whatever you have achieved in your studies and career
- Thanks for the family relations you are blessed with
- Thanks for the Job or business you are pursuing.
The gratitude practice has been preached by many scholars and intellectuals. According to them being grateful is the key to happiness. You have to understand that nothing is permanent. All will pass. Instead of resenting one must look forward in life and make the blueprint of success.
Stop thinking negatively
Just stop thinking of any negative thing, situation or person. Ignore everything that makes you feel down or incompetent. Just concentrate on the good side of the thing and situation. Reverse your thinking the moment it goes on a negative track
Find the good in you
You just have to concentrate on the little things that give you joy. Think about the pleasant memories . Find the things within you that you are happy with. Explore your qualities and the positive things within you that make you different from others. In short you have to explore yourself and feel happy about everything you have.
Accepting what you can’t change
After becoming aware of what you already have; the next step is creating a broader vision and accepting all the people, situations and things as they are. Try to improve yourself and adapt to the changes but not out of jealousy or comparison but out of self curiosity and personal goals. Do everything you like but for yourself. Try to change and improve yourself but not to copy anyone else but for personal happiness and goals.
Some things are beyond our control. They are pre decided by the divine and we have to trust the almighty. This does not mean that you have to give up and be passive. Improvement is the need of the hour and continuous changes are necessary to sustain on this planet. But whatever you do must be guided by a desire and a goal to be unique. It must not be aimed at becoming someone else.
Practice Patience
Patience means letting the things unfold in their own manner and on their own time. Its no use to become impulsive. Becoming too impulsive and rushing towards something can lead to wrong decisions sometimes. One has to keep patience and trust on the pace of growth.
Start embracing the moment and trust that whatever you need or desire shall come at its time. If you start keeping patience and believing in yourself and stay happy everything will start to fall in the right place and you will be there where you desired.
Assume that everything is perfect.
When you assume things to be perfect: they will have to get perfect. Change your thought process. It is your thinking that decides your actions and the future. Start loving yourself. Stop criticizing your present. Tell yourself that you are perfect. Be happy with what you have.
What happens when you start being content:
- Feeling grateful: The feeling of content is associated with lots of positivity and happiness. This makes a man thankful to God and the universe. The feeling of gratitude is the key to more success and empowerment. A man with a positive attitude is sure to achieve great heights. Not only on his career front but he had sweet relations with everyone around.
- Growth and success: Feeling of contentment and happiness encourages one to work with more dedication and focus. His productivity increases as he can do all things with a fresh mind and full self confidence.
- Boost of self image: When you start living a satisfied life and stop criticizing yourself ; your self image and confidence gets a great boost. This helps you build up plans of self improvement and success in your own style and perspective that suits you.
- Good health: Being happy from within makes you mentally fit and emotionally strong. It in turns helps you to stay fit and saves you from many types of disease that are caused due to hypertension. Thus you get an overall good health and a fit life.
- Good relationships: If you are happy and learn to be content you can be a better person, a good partner and a good parent as well. Your wrath reduces and you become more adjustable and active. Thus your personal relationships also improve as well.
- Relax: you reduce the major part of your thinking by cutting off the negative thoughts; thus you are actually totally free, happy and relaxed. You start getting time for productive things and feel yourself free mentally as well emotionally. You are in a relaxed state of mind and thus you can also manage your routine and tasks in a better way.
Conclusion
Be happy with the little you have. There are people with nothing that still manage to smile .Just let go off the fear and concentrate on what is already here. Take a long breath and smile .This process of thinking might not be easy for some; but it is not difficult. With patience and continuous practice we can fully get control over our thoughts and start living a life full of contentment and happiness.
‘Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.’ ~Lao Tzu
