The working hypothesis of enlightened beings to contentment right now
Photo by Lesly Juarez on Unsplash
The working hypothesis proposed by the many enlightened beings is that we cannot focus on the bad things and the good things at the same time. We cannot have a positive state of mind and a negative state of mind at the same time.
We need to choose at any given moment whether we focus on the good things in our lives or the bad things. If we focus on all the good things and we decide to choose to be happy because of the good things in our lives, we will find ourselves content.
Contentment leads to happiness and peace of mind.
You might say, how can I be content and happy? My finances are really bad? My relationships are seriously bad, and my health is bad……….
But I would ask you, if your health is bad, that means some parts of your body are bad. How about blessing the parts that are good. If your liver is bad, how about smiling at your heart which is functioning well and be grateful if is working so hard to allow you to stay alive, without asking a for a salary in return. How about your eyes, they are still working and let you touch with the miracle of seeing the blue sky and the sunset, and all the forms and colours of the world that are available to you because your eyes are there working for you.
If your finances are so bad, but it can never be so bad that you can’t help someone who is worse than you.
Our choice of thoughts, attitude and behaviour is what makes us content or not. Contentment doesn’t mean that we will just rest on our laurels and not make an effort to step up, level up and improve things. It simply means that we focus on all the things that we have rather than complaining about all the things that we don’t have and all the things that are going “wrong”. It means that we look at all the things that are “right”.
One of the most effective ways of getting to a state of contentment is to count your blessings. If you can just stop and count all the good things in your life, it will put the focus on what you have rather than what you don’t have. This immediately takes you to contentment.
I am curious, if you can stop and appreciate all the good things and people in your life, and thank them silently, are you far from contentment?