Contentment is one of life's greatest blessings(if learnt). But contentment is not something that can be sent down from heaven. It is a state of mind. It is not dependent upon our situation or our circumstances. Many people are contented and happy in circumstances where others would be thoroughly discontented. Some people are discontented under the most favorable circumstances. Contentment is a utopian world which we build ourselves. It is a state of mind we develop. It is an attitude toward things that comes to us through careful cultivation. It is something that lives inside us, not something that circumstances create.
We can view these things with indifference, ignoring responsibility, evading duty. When we have done our duty, met our responsibility, corrected those things that need correction so far as is possible for us, they we may have real contentment. Contentment does not mean surrender to conditions. It does mean being satisfied in the circumstances and conditions that exist for which we are not responsible.
There are many things people desire, which can never give them contentment. One man says, "If I had a million dollars, I could be contented." Another thinks if he had political preferment, that would satisfy his ambition and he would be content. Another has another thing to attain to make him content. These things when attained do not bring contentment. As already pointed out, contentment is a lesson learned, a state of the heart, an attitude toward things.
We must learn what desires to gratify and what desires to repress. We must learn what things can bring contentment and what things destroy it. We must avoid the latter while we seek the former. We must cultivate our spirits.
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