Living a Contented Life

“People who make decisions out of fear or perceived need, more likely than not, make poor decisions.” – Phil Grimm

Living a Contented Life

I’ve always thought of contentment as a sort of destination; a time and place where I would some how, some way be completely satisfied with life.  That is until this week, when for the first time I began to think that perhaps contentment could be used as a tool as well.

Thinking of contentment as a tool is something, that just one week ago, I would have never imagined.  You see, I’ve always viewed being satisfied as an enemy to growth and productivity in all areas of life.  I thought, “why would I work to become better or more wealthy if I was completely happy and relaxed?”

But, as I was working with some colleagues on a proposal this week I began to see that to achieve real growth, a company or person must be able to have time and creative space that can only come as a direct result of being content with their current situation.  In other words, in order to concentrate on purposeful growth a person must be comfortable with their current life or situation.

I think the best example I can come up with is the seemingly simple task of saving money for the future.  I go into many homes that are fill, past capacity, with stuff.  When in such homes I can only assume that even with all the stuff there, the owners are still not contented or they’d stop adding to their hoard; they keep spending money.  They mistakenly come to a conclusion, “I just can’t save!”  If they felt as if they had enough, they would stop spending and have money to set aside because they didn’t spend it on “needful” things.

I spent time talking with my friend Phil about this concept just a couple of days ago.  “People who make decisions out of fear or perceived need, more likely than not, make poor decisions.  Some people tell me that I’m too conservative and miss opportunities because I take the time to do a full evaluation before I move forward.  But, I know I won’t get the best result possible if do it any other way.”

People, like Phil, who live in contentment, use it as a tool to allow them to plan for their best future possible.  It allows them to pick their future and create it rather than frantically chase it.  So, Phil has taught me a new way to look at true satisfaction.  It isn’t just a destination.  It’s a tool that will let you create the life you’ve always dreamed about.  Contentment can lead to more contentment.  Use it as a tool and change your life today.