Happiness and Contentment

Happiness and contentment is not the same thing.

To be content, for me, would mean that I do not want to change anything from the way it is now. So my perception of contentment, is that it is a response to external circumstances. Happiness, in contrast, is the way you feel, and one of the fundamental arts of living is to be happy regardless of your circumstances. This means that even when the circumstances are not the way you'd like them to be, you still have the ability to realize that your state of mind is not caused by your circumstances, but by your thoughts and your patterns of thought leading up to that point.

At first thought it would seem that we would be most happy when we are content, but strangely enough, contentment seems to very quickly bring with it a boredom, a frustration of “is this all there is?”

It has been my experience that I am most happy when discontent with the way things are, and working hard to change things, doing things that are aligned with who I am fundamentally am.

People that are happy because of their great external circumstances seem to offer little hope or comfort for most of us, unless they carved those circumstances through a path of hardship. It is the people that are happy despite the fact that they seem to have just as much trouble and difficulty as everyone else, that most inspire us. And at the very core of Christianity lies some of these principles. It seems God first draws us to Him, first teaches us to seek and find His Kingdom, which is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, not our circumstances, and then all things will be added unto us.

Rom 14:17 For God's kingdom does not consist of food and drink, but of righteousness, peace, and joy produced by the Holy Spirit.

Mat 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Interestingly enough, once we learn to be happy despite our circumstances, it becomes easier to change those circumstances, and much easier to enjoy the process of implementing that change.