Where are you most content?

Where are you most content?

Hey guys, Left here. For my very first blog, I've decided to ponder a question that has been pondered by many, many people for many, many millennia. The question of "What is true happiness?" Or, as I will ask in this blog entry, "Where are you most content?" The 'where' I refer to is not a physical place. It's not somewhere you can simply go. It's more of a… mentality. A mindset. I'll explain more as I go along.

What makes you happy? Is it money? Popularity? Status? Love? Food? Whoever you are, wherever you are, there is definitely something for you. For me, it's my manga/anime, as well as Right. She's such a blessing in my life.

So how would you summarise happiness?

Happiness is all about perspective.  For example, let's say you had $100 million sitting in your bank account. One day, someone might offer you a job of cleaning toilets for $100,000 per year (bit crazy, I know- bear with me). You would most likely turn it down, as you already have quite a lot of money in your bank account. The meagre sum of $100,000 per year would not amount much comparing with the $100 million you have in your bank account, thus bringing you little happiness if you accepted the job. However, if you were unemployed, and you were given the same offer, you would jump at the opportunity- you would be overjoyed. It's the same amount of money, for the same job, and yet it would bring different levels of 'happiness' to two very different people.

How can I be happy then?

Again, with the example of money (because it's the root of so many people's 'happiness'): How much money is enough? How much money do you need to be happy and content? It's easy to think for a couple of seconds and throw out a figure such as '$100 million', but Ecclesiastes 5:10 says, "Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income." I'm not saying that money can't make you happy. I'm just saying that if you base your happiness on money, it's very probable that happiness will be very elusive for you. A quote from the Bible that is pretty much always misquoted is 1 Timothy 6:10. Money isn't the root of all evil. The "love of money is a root of all kinds of evil".

Wait, so if I like making money, then I will never be happy?

Not necessarily. This brings me to my next point about happiness. What I wrote above doesn't just apply to money-it applies to pretty much everything else that you can pin your happiness on. Scary isn't it? What I'm really trying to get at is that greed is the biggest barrier between you and happiness.

Even if you earn millions every year, if you're not content with that, and you want even more, then you won't be happy.

Even if you're very well known and respected, if you want even more popularity and fame, then you won't be happy.

And the same applies for pretty much everything else.

So you're saying that I shouldn't have aspirations, goals and dreams?

Of course not. It's wonderful- essential, even, to have aspirations, goals and dreams. But only if you become acquainted with greed's twin brother (the good twin)- contentment. Learn to make realistic goals that are within your reach. When you achieve them, congratulate yourself and set more goals. But always remember to be content with what you have, even if you can't reach your next goal.

I'm pretty young myself, so I don't have that much experience, but I've met many people, both happy and unhappy.

What I can tell you all, with confidence is:
  

1. No matter how much you have, unless you are content with it, you will never be happy

• You don't need to be rich to happy, but being poor won't necessarily make you happy either.

2. Make it your goal to be happy each and every day, and do your best to make others around you happy as well. I know, for a fact, that when Right is happy, I'm happy.

• One of life's greatest ironies is that a lot of the unhappiness we experience in our lives is as a result of our pursuit for happiness. Some of us subject ourselves to long hours at jobs we hate to earn more money. Is that really worth it? In my opinion, do your best to make yourself and your loved ones happy each day, as long as you act with integrity. "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself." Matthew 6:34. This doesn’t mean that you shouldn't plan for the future, but just try not to subject yourself to unhappiness today, for a possibility of happiness in future. 

So now I want to ask you: Where are you most content?

In which salary bracket will you be happy? $50,000-$70,000 per year? $70,000-$90,000 per year?
 

In which popularity range will you be happy? Just a couple of good friends? A wide social network? National/International fame?

How much (and what quality) food will make you happy? Just the occasional night out at a nice local restaurant, or meals at luxurious and expensive restaurants?

This is by no means a comprehensive list, but I encourage you to consider these questions for all aspects of your life. Figure out what you will be happy with, and try to be as realistic as possible. Remember, only when you a truly content with what you have, will you be truly happy.

TL;DR

I once asked my friend, "Are you happy with your results? Are you happy with your job? Are you happy with your parents' high expectations of you? Are you happy with the amount of respect you get from friends?" To each question, he answered "no". I then asked him if he was happy. Of course, he answered "no".

I then asked him, "Are you grateful that you have a house to live in? A bed to sleep in? Are you grateful that you have food to eat every day? A good school to go to? Clothes to wear? A job to go to?" To each of my questions, he answered "yes". He started to understand where I was going. I asked him, "Are you happy?"

He said, "Yes". 

In Christ~
Left