The wonderful message from The Joy of Financial Security is that we can cultivate greater happiness and financial security by making some intentional changes in our lives.
The topic for today is the concept of contentment. The parallel financial topic—”Control the Controllables”—is covered in the next blog entry.
Psychological research has shown that being content is a major factor in our happiness. The concept of contentment may include accepting things as they are, emotional satisfaction, and peace of mind.
Feeling content and satisfied may involve honoring our priorities, and feeling at peace with our values and our choices. There is always room for improvement, so we may never feel fully content or complacent. However, we need to give ourselves some latitude for our efforts, and for making progress toward contentment.
The concepts of contentment, satisfaction, and acceptance are all closely related. It is possible that contentment and satisfaction lead to acceptance. Can we accept the fact that we may never be as thin, as beautiful, as charming, or as handsome as we would like? Wouldn’t accepting ourselves as we are be a much healthier approach? If we were more accepting of ourselves as we are, we would likely be much more content, more satisfied, and happier.
If you are not content with something in your life, I recommend you consider whether it is within your control to change it. If it is within your control—such as a job that is not fulfilling—then change it. If it is not within your control—such as having a body shape that will never meet your definition of perfect—then accept it as it is.
The Serenity Prayer exemplifies the importance of not trying to control everything in our lives, and to be more accepting. It is believed to have been written by Reinhold Niebuhr in 1934 to be used in one of his sermons at the Union Church in Heath, Massachusetts. It was later circulated by the Federal Council of Churches, and then by the United States armed forces. It has been used by Alcoholics Anonymous since the early 1940s.
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God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.
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The concept of acceptance requires that we acknowledge that there are things we cannot change, as stated so clearly in the Serenity Prayer. Not only do we need to accept that there are things we cannot change, but we need to acknowledge that many things are outside of our control.
The parallel financial topic—Control the Controllables—is discussed in my next blog entry.