Contentment

We have a constant emotional state. We always feel something, even if we are not actively aware of it. We have dubbed this emotional base state as “contentment”. We accept it as the norm, as the regular mode of not being happy, sad, angry, or any other emotion. We call it “fine”, “OK”, “alright” and other words that have a neutral context associated with them. As such, contentment is actually one of the more important emotions: it is the measure of our emotional equilibrium, the yardstick against which we gauge not only our relative mental health, but our quality of life. Who wouldn’t want to be mostly content as opposed to being alternately happy and sad and not ever content all of the time?

Contentment is an elusive creature. While we intuitively understand what it is to be content, what, specifically, gets us there? Money? Fame? Fortune? Or is it the more mundane parts of life: a clean kitchen, a child who brings home a good report card from school, knowing your bills for the month are paid and your checkbook isn’t in the red? Understanding your personal level of contentment goes a long way toward understanding what is driving your Intentions and moderating your Goals.

Why are you content? What drives your contentment? What things, conditions, or states of being lead you to that even-keeled place?