Definition:
1. satisfaction: a feeling of calm satisfaction
2. something that makes somebody contented: a circumstance, or a feature or characteristic of something, that gives rise to satisfaction ( formal or literary )
I speak often of my daily devotional but I have never identified it. A Gentle Spirit: Daily Wisdom for Women is what I begin or end most days with. I love reading devotionals because they always spark an internal conversation as I relate God's word and the author of the day to my life.
Yesterday's topic was: Contentment.
After my Tuesday Truths' post, I started to wonder if I was content. To begin the journey after the answer, I needed to make sure I truly appreciated the meaning of Contentment. What struck me the most about the above definition was: a feeling of calm satisfaction. Not that after race feel where you are on top of the world... but that calm... deep... satisfaction.
I know that I have felt that before. Waking up just before my children... lying in bed just thinking... being relaxed... feeling the blessings in my life. Oh, how I love early mornings when it is just me and God. I think I felt this contentment during my long run last Saturday. It felt great to get out there after a week of being sick. And in between my moments of paranoia, listening to the creek flow, the birds sing, and my breaths, I felt content, calm, satisfied.
I do not often live in the moment of contentment though. Continuing with my examples above, the kids come running in and someone needs something from me... their voices are loud and demanding - definitely not contented. Finishing my "long" run and reading Lola to see that I had not run far enough - disappointment took over.
But I believe I can learn to live in contentment. The devotion's point was to live in the moment - "view life as a learning experience. Ask God what I can learn from the situation."
I feel blessed to even have two healthy children to come running into my room. Some women do not have that but crave it. Can't I be content in that? Some people cannot even get out there and run for 7.7 miles or at all... and I am complaining that I did not do 11. Seriously... I should be thankful and content with what I did accomplish - meaning what the Lord has blessed me with - instead of living in discontent!
A synonym for Contentment is serenity - calm and untroubled: without worry, stress, or disturbance. I want to live in that and with God I can - God wants me to - to rely solely on the Lord and not myself.
How do you remain content?
3 comments:
Nice, honest post! I think as humans we are dialed in to never be satisfied. Maybe that's how we continually strive for more?
Agreed, I can relate. Good post and it does take reminding ourselves to be content with our many blessings, celebrating them as gifts from God.
Great post! It's good to aim high, but we need to be happy with what we've achieved too.
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