Good morning, everybody. It is four o 'clock
in the morning. By the time I probably upload
this, it'll be a little bit later in the day.
So, but we're going to go ahead and move along.
This is Thoughts That Fit With You with Neogentrix.
Food for thought. We're going to hurry along
and finish up the moral series this week, as
March is almost over. Today we're going to have
a pretty short discussion, but we're going to
go ahead and cover contentment. In which case
means, by definition, if I can remember real
quick, I do believe it is a state of happiness
and satisfaction. one in which you are content
with yourself and what you have. While this may
seem like a trivial thing to cover, in all honesty,
it is actually not. While it won't take me as
long to cover everything completely, it's still
a topic that we need to cover. As Socrates put
it, is a natural wealth. Luxury is an artificial
poverty. In other words, having a lot of things
just to feel good about yourself is only temporary
and those items can either break or disappear
in an instant. Whereas being content with whatever
you have, even if nothing, is a more valuable
trait to have as you'll be able to keep more
of what you have when you don't have anything.
And no matter if you lose anything, It won't
be as big of an issue. Now, granted, I understand
that we live in a time frame now where money
is something we definitely need in order to survive.
But to be fair, in all honesty, you could go
out and live in the woods without half the stuff
you have in your house and just basically survive
there on your own. So, but... How do I put this?
There were many reasons... There are many many
reasons of why a lot of people have chose to
become minimalist and simplify their lives You
know, they were they were frustrated with clutter
They discovered at the time they that they had
that they were wasting on managing their possessions
They could have been used to do something else.
I mean joy wasn't found in their possessions
and They determined that they valued each other
way more than the physical belongs This initial
process of simplifying one's home required energy,
you know, effort and encouragement. You had to
be able to continually do this. And by the process
of remaining minimalistic and living this, you
know, countercultural lifestyle against all odds,
it requires something completely different. You
know, you have to be content with what you have,
which in other words means even if you have nothing,
still, being happy with just that you know contentment
is the life with lifeblood of a of a minimalist
okay and without it the journey towards minimalism
uh is short -lived you know discontent will always
rear its ugly head and become the great obstacle
to fully thrive to a fully thriving life you
know well a simple one anyway Not only does contentment
provide the opportunity for minimalism, it also
reduces your stress level, improves your outlook
on life, relaxes your body, and makes your life
enjoyable. There is an unmistakable freedom that
accompanies contentment. A freedom to be who
you are, enjoy who you are, and live the life
you are destined to live. Yet, in our consumeristic
culture... Where discontent is promoted and material
gratification is encouraged, learning to be content
can be very difficult. It is certainly a personal
journey that we all must travel, and nobody's
journey will look the same. Truly, there is no
one -size -fits -all, seven -step program to
fully attaining contentment in your life, but
I can give you six keys that can help you further
develop contentment in your life. And I'll cover
those next. Getting right back on track here.
The first thing is become grateful, okay? It's
impossible to develop contentment without gratitude,
okay? They are inseparable no matter what you
may think or what you may say or what anyone's
told you, okay? And a grateful person is one
who has learned to focus on the good things in
their life, not the things that they lack, okay?
When you begin to question what you have to be
grateful, just start making a list. A literal
list of all the good things in your life, okay?
Don't worry about finishing it. You don't need
to, okay? The simple discipline of beginning
the exercise will undoubtedly shift your focus
back to the many good things you already have
in life, okay? And I'm not talking about material
things. Two, take control of your attitude. This
is one that my parents have told me a lot. A
person who lacks contentment in their life will
often engage in when and then thinking. When
I get whatever, then I will be happy. Instead,
take control of your own life. Remember your
happiness is not reliant on the acquisition of
any possession. Your happiness is based solely
on your decision to be happy and this may be
one of the most important life lessons you'll
ever learn. I remember hearing this from my parents
a lot when I was younger, well before my 15th
birthday. Third, break the habit of satisfying
discontentment with acquisition. In English,
that means, for many of us, it has been ingrained
into our lives that the proper way to defuse
discontent is to purchase the outward item that
is seemingly causing the discontentment. No,
this is absolutely wrong. Almost no energy is
spent determining the true root of the discontentment.
discontent in this manner you know are you dissatisfied
with your wardrobe go buy new clothes not content
with your vehicle go buy a new one we have gotten
into the habit of satisfying our discontent by
simply spending more money which in turn leaves
us with nothing you always want to know why you're
in debt well now you know we must break that
habit understand that material possessions will
never fully satisfy the desires of your heart
that's why discontent always comes back The next
time you recognize discontent surfacing in your
life, refuse to give into the bad habit. Instead,
commit to better understanding yourself and why
the lack of that item is causing discontent.
Only after you intentionally break this habit
will true contentment begin to surface. Going
back to the whole topic of self -control we covered
previously. 4. You need to stop comparing yourself
to others. Comparing your life with someone else
will always lead to discontentment. This is not
an episode of keeping up with the Joneses. What
they do is their business. What you do is yours.
You don't need to be like them. There will always
be people who appear to be better off than you
and seemingly living the perfect life. But be
advised, we always compare the worst of what
we know about ourselves to the best assumptions
that we make about others. Their life is never
as perfect as your mind makes out to be. You
are unique. You are special. And it always is
better that way. Okay? Just because the grass
seems greener doesn't mean it is. Okay? My life's
no better than anyone else's. I may be super
smart, but I went through hell to get here. I
honestly can tell you that right now. If you
ever get a chance to talk to me in real life,
you'll understand this personally. My life has
never been this simple or this easy. Okay? Five,
help others out. And this is something I was
raised with years ago, which is why I don't have
a problem helping anybody. Sometimes you have
to give in order to receive. And I'm not saying
this in the terms of you'll always get something
back in physical form. Sometimes it's just that
good feeling of helping others that will make
you feel better about yourself. You know? When
you begin helping others, sharing your talents,
time, money, energy, you'll find yourself learning
to be content. The practice will give you a finer
appreciation for what you own, who you are, and
what you have to offer, and also a clear understanding
of your own abilities. Six, be content with what
you have, never with what you are, okay? Never
stop learning, growing, and discovering who you
are. Take pride in your personhood and the progress
that you have made, but never become so content
that you cannot find room for improvement. Contentment
is not the same as complacency, and as soon as
you stop growing, you start dying as a person.
Now, like I said before, this is not a religious
station, but the same thing applies, and it's
also in the Bible as well. God teaches us to
be content through contentment. And being content
with what we have and what he's given us will
bring us closer to him and a true form of peace.
Not this false peace that the world provides
to us that we believe that if we do this, this
will happen and everything will be okay because
he said so, she said so, or the president said
so. It doesn't work that way. If you want true
peace, be content. Be satisfied with what you
have, even if you have nothing. I've seen more
contentment out of the homeless people on the
side of the road than I do from the very people
who had nothing, got everything, and still want
more. There are people in the world who are rich
and have way more than the average person. And
yet, most of them... All I ever hear them talk
about is what else can they buy or how else can
they spend their money instead of looking for
ways to help others. You think that's just something
commonly found in the rich, you are dead wrong.
It is found in the everyday lives of any person,
every student, no matter what school you go to.
I'm in school now and no matter where I go or
what I'm doing, I always sit down somewhere.
Yes, I may talk a lot. But it does not mean I
don't listen. And there are a lot of people around
me that I hear and see every day. And all I ever
hear them talk about is what can they do tomorrow,
how tomorrow is going to work out, what they
can buy tomorrow, what they need, what they're
going to do, how much of this they need. Not
once have I ever heard anyone give thanks for
what they have or even thank God for what they
had or even call their parents and say, you know
what, mom and dad, I thank you for raising me
the way you did. Because had you not, I wouldn't
be sitting here where I'm at right now at this
university or at this school or on this job.
Which brings me to an exciting point here. When
I finished contentment, and this is the end of
this topic here, it wasn't a very long one. I'm
going to go ahead and cover thankfulness next.
Thanks for listening. And I'll catch you next
time on Food for Thought. My name is NeoGentrix,
and this has been the Moral Series. Thoughts
if it were you. on contentment.