Contentment

It's hard to truly be content in any and every situation. It's much easier to endlessly play the "if only" game. Somehow or other, whether by the media or our culture or just our inherent brokenness, the grass always looks greener on the other side of the fence.

But there's another insidious way this tendency also plays out, I think. Perhaps we reveal our discontent by our subtle enjoyment of others misfortunes, even the silly minor ones. A friend has a child and suddenly discovers just how tiring motherhood is - and we mothers gloat just a little bit. "Ha, NOW she knows." A single friend gets married and learns that with its joys are also a whole new set of challenges, frustrations, and even times of loneliness - and we married people chuckle little "I told you so's" under our breath.

Why do we do this? Why do we not only play the comparison game that sets ourselves up for disappointment, but also find the need to revel when it seems the lives of others are just as disappointing as our own?

I want to be the kind of person who is fully present in my moments, my life, my calling. I want to be so fully there that it doesn't occur to me to either long for something else or to lose my sense of empathy for others. I want to be the kind of person with whom others feel comfortable, even blessed and refreshed. I want that kind of contentment that not only allows me to face each day with joy but that overflows and touches the world around me.

Yeah.