SINGAPORE: People wonder how one can honestly feel content with their own lives, especially after experiencing the realities of life, such as losing loved ones and close friends, and realising that working hard for years and having savings can not automatically fill the emptiness that one feels inside.
The feeling of contentment has been a very interesting discussion on Reddit, where a netizen shared how the word truly hit him/her this year. In the post, he/she shared that he/she had always been working and saving for a better life and to provide for his/her family, and yet he/she still felt empty, like there is a hole inside of him/her.
“The goalpost always shifts further once a certain milestone has been achieved. I started asking Why am I not content? " I started thinking deeper into the meaning of life as I still hold very dear memories to all those who have passed, and I really seek to ask, what contentment really means and what is life being contented like?” the netizen questioned.
With this, many netizens shared their thoughts and opinions on what contentment in life really means to them. One shared that to be content, he/she tried to remember how to be thankful for the things that he/she is able to do normally, and it makes him/her a happier person.
“You can get over a lot of things and be happily optimistic once you reach this point mentally,” the comment declared.
A similar comment stated: “I think contentment is a lot about being appreciative and grateful for what you already have. It's also to show active steps to appreciate and treasure what you have.”
For some, being content in life means there is peace within themselves, and it is really a personal journey.
“Need to count the blessings. Not to chase after things based on all endless desires. That makes you feel tired and empty at the end of the day,” a netizen remarked.
Others also emphasised that getting to work, spending time with their children, staying healthy, and getting to live normally is a privilege, and focusing on these things can help one be happy and content with what they have in the present.
“Being content is not a stage in life that you reach, nor is it the absence of problems; it’s a state of mind, of not desiring craving for more, for better, for something you don’t have,” a comment concluded.
At the end of the day, contentment is not something that arrives after reaching a certain salary, buying a home, or achieving every goal. For many people, it begins with learning how to appreciate the present and find meaning in the simplest things.
While there will always be life’s pressures, choosing gratitude over life comparison can be the first step to feeling more peaceful with one’s life.