The Stigma of Contentment

I’ve been feeling so many emotions lately, happiness, relief, security, pride (the good kind). Some of the feelings I haven’t had recently are, fear, concern, bitterness, helplessness. When I examine this closer I realize that what I’m feeling is contentment. Wonderful right? I love my career and the work I’m doing now is challenging and rewarding. My children are healthy and happy and growing like weeds both physically and mentally. John has found a role that excites and energizes him and with a great commute. I’m so very happy with where things are right now and I want to hit the pause button and simply enjoy.

I realize I’m not the first person to come up with the suggestion to live in the moment. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “We are always getting ready to live but never living”. Except, it’s more than that. There seems to be a negative connotation associated with the word contentment.  Sadly, people often equate contentment to unmotivated, uninspired, indifferent, or worse...lazy. If you aren’t striving for something, newer, bigger, better, then you are not ambitious and thus not deserving of what you do have.  I don't know if it's a US sentiment or more specifically for those of us living in NE, where people actually honk at you to start driving in anticipation of a green light, but I can tell you that Southerners only honk in combination with a nice head nod hello and I've never met anyone who could appreciate the present like an Italian.

I believe that contentment is highly underrated. I have goals that I hope to attain in the future, but for right now, I’m pleasantly satisfied with my life and my career. I don’t have a nagging sense that I’m inadequate or that what we have is deficient in some way. I’m proud of our achievements and while I’m enjoying the here and now I’m looking forward to the next chapter. I can stop to smell the roses, without sneezing. I’m the cat that ate the canary. I am uncompromisingly content.