The One Thing You Must Have To Be Truly Happy

All your heart desires will mean nothing without it.

What it is, is like the filter for all your emotions, including happiness. Since happiness, no matter how it is defined, is essentially a subjective thing, everybody knows it only when they feel it.

However, there is that one thing everybody has to have in the mix before all those things your heart desires can make you truly happy. That one thing is contentment. It is what separates those who can be truly happy with their lives, regardless of their situation, from those who cannot.

Contentment is the key, the fuel for your happiness, the secret ingredient if you will. What is happiness if not that feeling that comes over you when you know that life is good and you can’t help but smile? Contentment makes that happen. When you have it you realize that it is a gift above all other gifts because there are people who have so much more than you probably ever will but are still unhappy. Yet somehow the gods have chosen to bless you.

What contentment is:

There are different definitions, but the one I find simple yet comprehensive is that contentment is the experience of satisfaction and being at ease in one’s situation, body, and/or mind.

What it does for you:

When you are content, your mind will be at ease and your heart will be at peace; a peace that flows from the acceptance that in the present, you have all that you can have and all that you need. What is to come will come when its time is right, and you are prepared you to receive it when that time comes.

The positive outlook it gives you, rids you of the unhappiness resulting from dissatisfaction with life. And the fact that greed, envy, and jealousy are now far removed from your equation you will have stronger relationships. People tend to be more comfortable around those they sense don’t want what is theirs. Contented and happy people always project this strong magnetic aura.

The relationship between contentment and happiness:

“Pleasure that we seek are not happiness at its peak…for it is contentment that gives true fulfillment.” RVM

The relationship between happiness and contentment has also been likened to sex: happiness is like the orgasm — usually a brief burst of intense feeling, but then it passes; contentment, on the other hand, is like the afterglow- not so fleeting. It is that satisfying feeling that lingers after the fact. Well, you get the idea.

However, though you are at ease, contentment will not stop you from working, if it’s possible, to make things even better. After all, what you are is content, not complacent.

“To be content doesn’t mean you don’t desire more, it means you’re thankful for what you have and patient for what’s to come.” –Tony Gaskins