"Now godliness with contentment is great gain." - I Timothy 6:6
Ambrosia is my new favorite café downtown. Usually I pack a lunch but last night I was too lazy and this morning I didn’t have time. So (drat!) I just had to go to Ambrosia today. Between mouthfuls of grilled chicken, pesto, and feta cheese sandwich, I contemplated what I think is the key to a happy life. I think that, in order to be happy, a person must be content with whatever stage of life they’re in. This might seem like a really simplistic, no-brainer observation but it’s amazing how often I see people miserable because they so strongly desire to “be in the next stage” of their life. (Ala the Beach Boys song Wouldn’t It Be Nice If We Were Older.) I’m sure you’ve seen it too. In fact, if you’re a normal person, you’ve been there yourself (as have I). It goes like this . . . A lot of young teens want to be grown-up so they can drive, get a job, go to college, etc. A lot of singles want to be married because they think it will end their loneliness and because it’s fun and romantic. A lot of married persons without kids want to have kids because they think children will meet some sort of emotional need that they have (or maybe they’re trying to “keep up with the Joneses” which is the worst reason to have kids, or to do anything, actually!). A lot of young mothers with toddlers and babies just want their kids to grow up because they’re exhausted and maybe want their independence back. It’s all a vicious cycle. And, sadly, it’s oftentimes pretty rare to find people who are truly, completely content in their current stage of life (whatever that may be) – people who are not longing for “greener grass.” I think that every stage of life has its definite pros and cons. Every stage has its own particular joys and sorrows. When we have the attitude that “things will get better IF this or that changes in my life” then we are only hurting the quality of our own existence now. Let us not reach the end of our lives realizing that, because of our discontent, we never truly lived.
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7 comments:
And the married with teens can't wait for them to go to college and the worker can't wait for retirement and then you reach retirement and, so I'm told, you look back and wish you were young again.
-Dan
That was AWESOME.
There's a great story I've seen in the Book of Virtues about a little boy who gets a magic ball with the string of his life coming out--he can tug on it whenever he gets impatient for things to move on. So he keeps doing it until he's grown up, married, has kids, kids are older, until one day he realizes his mother is dying and he's getting old and he doesn't even remember his life because he rushed through most of it.
Fortunately then he wakes up. I think of that story a lot whenever I want to hit fast-forward on my life.
My thoughts exactly! That story (The Magic Thread) is very sobering, and the moral has bucked me up through many a dry time when I am tempted to repine and gaze with wistful sighs toward the horizon. I always think of Susan: 'Her whole idea is to race ahead to the silliest time of one's life, and then spend the rest of it trying to stay there. She's wasted all her life trying to get to the age she is now, and she'll waste the rest of it trying to stay there.' Thanks for the musings, Amy. A very valuable reminder.
~Rose
Amy - I had the same sort of epiphany on Monday while I was driving. I thought of Beverly LaHaye's quote "Consider this - many times people
on the other side of the fence are admiring
how green your grass is." In fact, I even wrote about it on my blog. Isn't it fun to see how the Holy Spirit can work in CA & NH at the same time. God is so good!
Maybe this is like a female-realization-at-this-time-of-life thing, because that's been one of the most important truths I've learned this year. Furthermore, I was talking to a friend who is also our age, and she said the same thing. I was so occupied looking at everyone else's perfect life that I didn't stop to think I already had the perfect one for me. -- SJ
Good thoughts, Amy. It's good to be reminded to be content.
My problem now is being *too* content in the phase of life in which I am! :) I love being married, both of us working in the legal arena, no kids yet, cute little apartment, freedom to travel, semi-disposable income and frequent trips to Starbucks. ;) We are true "yuppies" in every sense of the word. On the one hand, I'm looking forward to motherhood, but on the other, I know it means a drastic change in our lifestyle and I must confess, I am half-dreading it. And then I feel terribly guilty because this is me: home schooled all my life, oldest of eleven children, went through the ATI EXCEL program until I could "EXCEL" no further. . . *grin* I'm just a horrible traitor to good little home school girls everywhere, aren't I? *sheepish look*
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