On Being Content (Pt. 1)

“Do not measure your success and achievements by that of another. Set your goals and standards of success and smash them…and if it takes longer than expected to reach the final destination, keep going, stay focused and be content in your now. Trust the process”

Hey guys! I hope we all had a great week so far? For me, the past two weeks have been all sorts with my physical health going all over the place but I’m thankful to God that I feel a whole lot stronger and better.

I’m also super excited about the new blog and cannot wait to post loads of content here for you. Today, I’ll be sharing on CONTENTMENT. Ahhh. This word. To say that I’ve learned alot of lessons from this word alone would simply not do enough justice to it. I’ll be sharing on  being content with who you are and where you are in life right now, being  as well as the lessons I’ve learned from these points.

This post was originally too long to fit in a single post and so I broke it into two. So here goes the first part:

For me, contentment is that feeling that comes from inner satisfaction and happiness. Just choosing to be happy with life; with who you are as a person, with why you are the way you are and with where you are in life. It’s funny how in our generation, we’re never ever satisfied with anything that we have. We always seem to forget the moments we dreamed, hoped and prayed for the things we have now and just keep waiting and waiting for the next “better” thing to come while forgetting to enjoy and be happy in the now.

Sometimes, external factors like family, friends and the society may try to impose certain expected timelines and milestones on us and our achievements which results in a tendency to feel like you have not achieved anything great until you have a great job, a fancy car, a big house, a spouse that is “goals” (because Godforbid you had a spouse that was not instagram “goals”) and so on. Lol, ask the people at the “great job” what their next step in life is . They’d most likely tell you about a greater job. And so it goes on and on…

But then how can we just, once in a while stop and take it all in, enjoy our nows, be present in amazing moments of our lives and just be satisfied with who we are and what we have? I must state here that most of you that know me personally, know that I am quite goal-oriented, driven and ambitious, even a little bit of a control freak (which I am trying to work on). And so this post is not necessarily to encourage any form of laziness or feelings of remaining in the comfort zone or not even wanting to be better or do better. It’s just that I’m learning that most times you just have to be…

Content with who you are

I’ll start off by saying that I’ve learned that there’s nothing as amazing as just being content with yourself, loving your life and falling in love with yourself over and over. We’re all blessed with our own superpowers in some way and are each unique from the other. No point trying to compare yourself to another person or trying to make another’s strengths yours. Perhaps they aren’t and that’s okay. Most times, we find that we could be externally focused on other people and their personalities and looks that we forget to appreciate ours and how amazing, smart, beautiful, kindhearted, warm and interesting we are. When was the last time you looked in the mirror and liked what you saw (and I’m not talking about looks alone)? When was the last time you truly appreciated yourself not for anything that you did that was “great” but just because you are you?

I remember growing up, I used to be such a “roughian” and somewhat a tomboy. But I was  pretty extroverted and much of a trouble maker. Whenever I played roughly in the house and ended up breaking something when my parents were not in, I would walk back to my sister and I’s room that we shared and find her sleeping or reading a book or playing with her barbie dolls and wish in my heart that I was like her (except from the dolls part because I hated the dolls) “oh why can’t I be peaceful and normal and just calm and not all over the place??”…and then I’d just surrender and start sobbing calmly because of the impending doom that was going to befall me for breaking whatever I broke (lol, when you’re younger everything feels like the end of the world…I know some of my older favourite people reading this would just think “look at this little one”, but I know we get what I mean)…and then after that day of trouble, I would be back at it.

But I learned that I am perfect the way I am, and while I constantly strive to be better every single day and work on any flaws that I have(some days are better than the others, and some are outrightly discouraging), I figure that the most important thing is to just be content and happy with who you are, afterall, I do believe that God makes no mistakes with how he made us and the kinds of personalities and looks he intended for each of us to have.  Also, while there may be over 7 billion people on the planet, and you may have 3 or 4 dopplegangers that you’ve probably never met before, I’m pretty sure that you’re amazingly special, unique and there is absolutely no one else on the planet who is exactly like you to the core (at least to your core DNA). 

So, remember that you’re special, you’re perfect the way you are, you are beautiful in and out, there are good things about you that are easy to love(and if you’re thinking “oh what things?” perhaps you just need to look a little closer) your personality is one of a kind and there is so much others can learn from you…just from who you are.

Next week, I’ll share on being “Content with where you are” as well as some of the things I’ve learned to do that help me stay content with where I am in life right now as I still try to achieve my goals and become a better person.

Have a great day guys!

x

Photo sources: Beauty as designed, Ms. Be-Tee