How to Find Contentment in Life

Not too long ago I was at a point where discontentment and unhappiness had taken over my life. I was so focused on how my life was different from what I wanted that I wasn’t seeing all of the good in my life.  Honestly, I was really just a mess.

I knew I didn’t want to be unhappy and had to do something to change how I was feeling. One phone call to my mother later and I was reminded of all of the blessings I already had in my life and how I should be more content.

Practicing gratitude and being content does not come easy to me. It took some time, a lot of reflection, and a good amount of pain for me to truly understand what my mother was trying to tell me.

I don’t know what brought you to this page or what is going on in your life, but I do know I want to help. In this post, I am going to share a little bit about what contentment is and isn’t plus a few tips on how to be more content in life.

What Is Contentment?

According to the dictionary, content means “pleased and satisfied, not needing more.” Personally, I’ve always had issues with this. For some reason, I’ve always thought being content meant having to settle for less.  However, living a life of contentment doesn’t mean you have to give up on improving your life!

If living a life of contentment doesn’t mean you can’t have goals, what does it mean? It does mean you have to say goodbye to that inconsolable longing for more. It means not making your happiness now contingent on some event happening in the future. Having contentment in life means you are deciding to be satisfied or pleased with what is in your life at the current moment.

Yes, that means contentment is different from happiness. That’s okay. Contentment gives us the ability to live life fully, without the emotional rollercoaster that can come with wanting something different.

How Can You Have Contentment In Life?

Obviously making your life more content is going to be a different process for you than it is for me. These are just some suggestions.

See the Good in Your Life:

It can be easy to spend so much time thinking negatively. We focus on our problems and our shortcomings and we suck the joy out of our own lives. Instead of being consumed by all of the negative, take time to see the good in your life.

Learn to Live with Less:

As a culture, we have associated happiness with stuff. We think the more stuff we have the happier we will be. I know that I have had issues with retail therapy but buying myself a fancy handbag isn’t going to cure my discontentment. There isn’t anything wrong with having nice things. The problem comes when we use things to substitute for happiness. Want to see how you’ll feel when you buy less? Try doing a no-spend month where you only spend money on the necessities.

If your life is already filled with too much stuff, you may want to consider simplifying things. Did you know that there is scientific proof that excessive clutter can lead to anxiety? Remove the clutter from your life and focus on the things that actually enhance your life.

Stop Comparing:

It is so easy to look at other people and see how much better they have it. When we compare ourselves to others, we forget about the good we have in our own lives. In reality, it probably only looks like their lives are so much better than ours because we don’t see the whole picture.

Stop Judging Yourself:

A lot of unhappiness and discontent can come from judging ourselves. Maybe we wish we were thinner or made more money…  When you are so supercritical of yourself, you hinder your ability to grow. You can be content with yourself and still acknowledge areas for self-improvement.

Keep Growing and Learning:

Like we said before, contentment doesn’t mean you have to give up your goals. You can decide what you want to be and what you want in life and work toward those things. So yes you can want to be in better shape or you can want to have a more fulfilling career. You can even want these things while still being content! Be content in your daily work toward those goals.