Contentment Is Great Gain

Contentment is tough to hang on to, yet necessary to keep.

Being content is making the best with the old, the hand-me-downs and possessions you already have. It’s about realizing what’s practical for your current stage of life as it will bring balance, comfort, and fulfillment.

Contentment

1 Timothy 6:6 “But godliness with contentment is great gain.”

Knowing Where You Stand
It’s not about having the best, but rather, making the best of what you have. Doing so takes patience, which encourages ingenuity because you’ll find ways to improve what you have. You may even find that customizing an old item is better than what’s on the market today, or simply, meets your needs.

Still Aim For Higher Ground
If you make the best of what you have you’ll know where there’s room for improvement. You can still improve the quality of your life, be ambitious, and reach for the clouds. It’s important to have balance so you avoid complacency.

Appreciate What You Have
Be thankful for what you have. Making the best of what you have also encourages you to take care of your things. So when you can afford a better option or replacement you’ll have the wisdom to make the new item last. If you can’t take care of the old, how will you take care of the new?

Furthermore, contentment helps to look for ways to make the best of situations. Making the best of what you have allows you to be content with what you have and means you’ll have a positive outlook on life. You’ll be able to make the best out of struggles you face, even those unexpected ones. Thus, it’s rewarding to teach yourself to be content.

R.I.P. Greed
Contentment provides motivation to live within your means, drowning out materialism. It’s challenging but keep in mind that material possessions come and go, rot, rust, and get old. Don’t let this happen to your outlook on life.

Be At Ease
When content, you’ll feel at peace with yourself. Being at peace with yourself keeps you grounded and is crucial for maintaining good spiritual, mental, and physical health. It brings a comforting feeling to the current stage of your life while allowing you to work toward your goals. Don’t get caught up in what people say you should have. Remember if you can afford it’s a good deal, both time, dollar, and resource wise.

Contentment’s a handy key to keep with you throughout your life. It’ll help you realize your blessings and give you balance.

 

This is the third in a continuing series about discovering your personal key chain.

Add Persistence To Your Key Chain

Persistence

“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.”
:: Thomas Edison

 

You can use persistence in all aspects of life. Persistence is an intangible key that will bring reward while facing challenges in life.

A recent example is water damage I was experiencing in my apartment. I kept checking-in with my landlord and my problem was solved. In such situations, you can’t assume one phone call to your landlord will be enough.

For me, persistence is the yearning to continue until I get a desired result. I closely associate persistence to perseverance and endurance.

Why? It’s continuing to try even while experiencing adversity. Re-read the previous sentence.

When faced with hardship, continue to press on. Will it be easy? No, prepare to work through frustration. Prepare to work through pain. Will it be rewarding? Yes. Prepare to feel success; to find new-found confidence.

Working through hardships in life strengthens your character to face future adversity. Upon overcoming challenges, you’ll feel more confident when presented with future challenges, and you will see reward.

 

Think about what you enjoy to do. Persistence comes in handy for the following activities:

Finding a job – Keep your focus. Follow-up. Maintain a positive attitude. Continue to apply.

Fishing – Keep fishing when the fish stop biting

Hunting – Continue to hunt even if you don’t see the game you’re after

Working out/Sports – When you feel a side cramp coming on, keep running. Play hard the entire game, whether your team is losing or winning.

Graphic/web design – Software/coding can be stubborn, persistence is a way to feel those “aha” moments. Keep trying to bring your vision to life.

See a pattern? Keep and continue are used over again. No challenge, or any word similar to “challenge”, is a ticket to quit.

You see, being presented with a challenge means being presented with an opportunity. You can tell yourself to quit, or continue. Believe in yourself, your ability; and spark that curiosity to always try one more time. Will trying one more time accomplish what you started?

In life you’ll face opposition, difficulties, and failure. And to overcome these obstacles you must keep going. Persistence is key; add it to your keychain.

 

This is the second of a continuing series on discovering your intangible key chain.

Life’s Roller Coasters

It’s awesome to hear God-given talent through song.
While listening to John Denver’s song:

“Looking For Space”, I jotted down the following:

I’m realizing I can relate to lyrics in this song and they help me explain certain feelings in my life.

“Looking for space” helps me reflect on my values, my goals in life and where I see myself in the future. 

Sometimes I wish I could fly away,” I imagine eagles soaring and how they represent freedom. It’s about those times I feel like I need a break from work or facing a new challenge in my life. Fishing also comes to mind and the freedom of exploring God’s creation. 

“When I think that i’m moving, suddenly things stand still. I’m afraid cus I think they always will.” I relate to this line because there’s times problems arise while everything’s going well. Some challenges take longer to overcome so I feel stuck in a rut. Some ruts take more work to get out of than others. Once I’m out it’s rewarding and I am refocused.

“Sometimes I fly like an eagle.” Hearing this inspires me because when God is brought into perspective, I feel refreshed and feel like I’m soaring high like an eagle, suddenly everything’s clear. The big picture is that God wants us to be in heaven with him; we have the gift of eternal life through Jesus.

High points are exhilarating; low points are puzzling. The reality is that life’s a roller coaster. Your faith is a roller coaster. Sometimes it’s strong, other times it’ll seem weak.

Always living in you, God will strengthen your faith and be at your side throughout your life. It will feel like you’re flying on eagle’s wings. Other times you’ll seem to be in a slump and may find yourself in despair. Whatever the case, God is always walking with you, never leaving you. It’s a sweet dream.

St. Paul says, “I am convinced neither angels nor demons can separate you from the love of God.”

God’s love is strong, so strong he was willing to send his only son to die on the cross. Jesus Christ died for all people, humbling himself to live as a human and be tempted, tortured, and mocked; that we may live and have life to the full.

When in despair or feeling like you’re stuck, remember Jesus went through temptation and challenges as you and I do, so he knows exactly how living in this world can be. He promises, surely I will be with you always to the very end of the age. That alone is exhilarating. God keeps his promises.