April 2024: Contentment...a feeling and choice
You can choose to feel content, all the way to your core, your bones. God encourages us to live in this state of being.
I see myself walking…either out in nature on a gravel, mossy path near water, mountains, sky…or on an old city street surrounded by culture, color, and…in both settings, with all the things that cause my senses to engage…my lungs and heart to fill…my feet and root chakra to be centered, grounded in the gift that is this moment, right now. Full. Expansive. Serene. Grateful.
How do you see yourself…when you feel content?
With how much or little can you find contentment?
When was the last time you felt content?
When was the last time you felt full with gratitude, happiness?
Existing in contentment or chaos…serenity or stiffness
Finding spaces, settings, sources for being content each day…
Fresh Air…as though the atmosphere on the outside is exactly the same as on the inside…a match of exterior and interior temperature, weather
Sifting Earth…grains of sand beneath your feet…filtering through fingers and toes…filling hands and soul…imaging how old each singular grain may be…and the peace within as the happy mind gets lost in the consideration of the vastness of space and time
Waking up in a quiet home…sheets cool, fresh…giving the body a gentle, strong stretch…eyes opening to soft sunlight
Cup of coffee…perfect in temperature, flavor, and strength…waking, delighting the senses of sight, scent, taste, touch
Creative Fire…in front of a wood burning fireplace or an outdoor fire pit…heating the body, invigorating the senses of sight, sound, scent
Cleansing Water…a refreshing shower, crisp dip in the pool, complete buoyancy of body in the ocean
When you are filled with a feeling or sense of contentment…what does that look like?
Where are you?
What are you doing?
Are you with someone?
How does your heart feel?
What expression is on your face?
What sensations rush through your body?
Do you experience this scenario or setting of contentment often, occasionally…or is it just a dream of yours?
A parallel with gratitude
Are contentment and gratitude the same? How do they differ? What qualities of each make them alike?
We are likely to see, in the outside world, on social media, etc., prompts to feel grateful, to offer thanks, to give gratitude to others and to God, the great Heavens above.
But what about feeling content? How often are we encouraged to find contentment each day?
You hear and see messages, prompts all the time that say…Write down the three things you were grateful for today.
But, it’s unlikely you’ve been encouraged, prompted to…Write down the three times you felt content today.
Perhaps if we took the time to notice when we felt content each day we’d experience a lot more moments of gratitude, peace, love.
Gratitude feels like a full, happy heart. What about contentment? Does it feel the same…like a full, happy heart or is there more…more to sense, notice, cultivate?
Do you need to feel grateful in order to feel content?
Do you need to feel content in order to feel grateful?
Remember a time when you felt truly grateful…can you also find the qualities of contentment in this memory?
An Offering
blissfully filled with sights seen
sounds, scents moving forward
a memory…distant, near
can you feel it
can you see it
can you remember it
a full and grateful heart
speaking to you of joys
days of summer
nights of winter
great settling of peace
welling deep inside
connecting body, feet, hands
collecting wisdom and love
with each following step, breath
content in this moment, my dear
can you feel it
can you see it
can you know it
On Being Content…pictures, practice, and a meditation
an image of contentment…
Nature. Food. Color. Quiet. Contentment.
What image of contentment speaks to you…maybe one from the images below or one you are able to softly, joyfully connect to from your recent past?
a practice
This is fun! I just did this same activity when scrolling for the six images above!
Go through the photos on your cell phone.
Softly, gently settle your eyes as you scroll, without intense focus, looking, or scrutiny.
Allow the images to stand out on their own…the ones where you smile at the memory, where your body and sensing systems can replicate how you felt in that moment…looking, of course, for the moments of contentment, gratitude, happiness, joy.
Find a settled peace in your heart - contentment - as you browse your memories in image.
Feel an openness, expansion in your heart and lungs. Allow for a fullness of soft gentle breath…a wash of contentment to expand within your entire being.
Offer thanks, gratitude for these special moments…seared into image, memory, senses.
Post your image in the comments below! Share the peace, glory, and gratitude in your moments of contentment!
breathe in…full, expansive
breathe out…complete, releasing
feeling good, truly good
heart full
grateful
content
satisfaction in all scenarios…what do you choose?
You are here, now…gathering up your prior choices, thoughts, emotions, sensations…held in memory…individual and collective.
You can choose to feel the exterior chaos, all the way to your core, your bones. The world around us encourages this state of being.
Likewise…
You can choose to feel an internal contentment, all the way to your core, your bones. God encourages us to live in this state of being.
In one circumstance your spirit sinks, unable to thrive, offer thanks.
In the other circumstance you spirit soars…connects to goodness, healing, expansion of body and breath, mind and heart…
It is always possible to choose to feel content…even in a world of chaos.
This happens through a practice or personal mastery of mindfulness, a study of santosha (“contentment” in yoga philosophy), a personal commitment to thrive, enjoy, be in an energetic state of gratitude, settled stillness and silence…even for just one moment, one breath each day.
meditaiton
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