“Happiness is wanting what you have, not having what you want.” – Mark Twain
Truer words were never spoken. I have found in life that many times people, myself included, have said comments such as “If it makes you happy, that’s all that matters.” The older I get, the more I realize this statement is bullsh*t. We say it without thinking, but this means that our happiness and therefore our emotional and spiritual well-being is conditional and based upon the influences in our lives. What if something that hurts another makes you happy? But I digress…
What I am driving at here is that while I am not perfect in this area at all, I have found that contentment – even better than happiness – comes from within. First and foremost is comes from the incredible knowledge that I am a Child of God. This is something that will never change and therefore is a constant that I can always count on in my life. However, I do have to choose to accept this knowledge and own it.
After I accept this fact, I have to let it resonate throughout my life. I think all would agree this is the most difficult part. This means accepting that God knows best for me and therefore I am exactly where I am meant to be at this point in my life – physically, emotionally, vocationally, etc. This is where Twain’s quote is so relevant. I find that I am consantly in a state of “waiting”, a perpetual anxiousness of wishing and wanting for the next part of my life to unfold and when it does, I wish I knew what was next.
What if we just embraced the present? What if we lived it fully and unapologetically? What if we made a decision each day to be happy with what we had and where we were, no exceptions? Sounds pretty incredible to me.
