~Contentment ~

I have 3 dogs, and feeding time in our home is, to say the least, frenzied. They jump up and down, eagerly awaiting their meals- panting, sniffing, and pushing to be first.
Then something strange happens...as soon as the last of the three bowls are on the floor, they each begin running to see what the others have been fed, and try to steal a bite from a dish other than their own. The biggest of the 3 is the worst. He'll literally spend hours guarding his meal without savoring a single bite, all the while waiting for a chance to steal a bite from his sisters.

Have you ever known anyone of the human variety like this? Have you ever seen this quality in yourself? Of course I'm not talking about stealing food from other peoples plates...but wanting what others have instead of being content with what you've already been blessed with.

Far too often these days, the pursuit of happiness is interchanged with the pursuit of things. What so many never seem to grasp is that the feeling you get from attaining material possessions is temporary at best, and often leads to a destructive cycle of overspending, feelings of guilt, and even depression. Personal credit card debt in the US has more than doubled since 2004, and personal bankruptcies are at the highest rates ever- all while the median American family has less than $10,000.00 in assets. Not surprisingly, more than 21 million in this country suffer with clinical depression.
Suicide is the 11th leading cause of death in the United States, and 3rd among individuals 15-24. I find this confounding, and incredibly sad that in a country where we have so much, there are so many people feeling empty enough to take their own lives.

I believe that one of the first, and most important steps in taking control of your destiny is to grasp the truth that until you make peace with who you are, you'll never be content with what you have.
And on that note, I'll close with a quote from the ancient Greek philosopher, Epicurus: "Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for."