{"id":2421,"date":"2020-11-26T13:53:54","date_gmt":"2020-11-26T13:53:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/?p=2421"},"modified":"2020-11-26T13:53:54","modified_gmt":"2020-11-26T13:53:54","slug":"stop-chasing-happiness-and-start-creating-contentment-in-your-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/2020\/11\/stop-chasing-happiness-and-start-creating-contentment-in-your-life.html","title":{"rendered":"Stop Chasing Happiness and Start Creating Contentment in Your Life"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"contentment\"<\/a>
Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Many people have the mistaken belief that their lives are bad because they aren\u2019t happy<\/em> all the time.\u00a0 Allow me to let you in on a little secret.\u00a0 No one is happy all the time.\u00a0 That is an unrealistic pursuit.\u00a0 Instead, what we should be striving for in life is contentment<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Happiness is a feeling, akin to joy.\u00a0 It is something you might feel when falling in love for the first time.\u00a0 Or, you might feel happy when you accomplish a big goal, like completing a marathon.\u00a0 But those feelings of happiness and joy are not normal.\u00a0 They are special<\/em>.<\/p>\n

What you should be striving to feel most of the time is contentment.\u00a0 That is a sustainable feeling.\u00a0 When we are content, we are comfortable with ourselves and with our lives.\u00a0 We feel good about our situation in life and our relationships with other people.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, many people chase happiness.\u00a0 They want their lives to be full of special moments, 24\/7.\u00a0 That isn\u2019t realistic.\u00a0 It is a futile pursuit.<\/p>\n

You know the people who are chasing happiness.\u00a0 They are the people who regularly relocate because they want to experience over and over again the excitement of living in a new place and meeting new people.\u00a0 Folks like that spend their weekends and holidays traveling to exotic places or doing high octane sports activities to get a rush.\u00a0 They go through one romantic relationship after another in order to have that feeling of falling in love – again and again.<\/p>\n

And they miserable.\u00a0 They are chasing the wrong thing.\u00a0 Special moments of happiness are meant to be just that \u2013 special.\u00a0 Your entire life is not going to be one beautiful, Hallmark moment after another.\u00a0 If you expect that out of life, you will be sorely disappointed.<\/p>\n

Below are ways to stop chasing happiness and instead create a life of contentment.\u00a0 Apply these approaches in your own life, and see how much better you feel.<\/p>\n

To Create Contentment, Make Peaceful Relationships A Priority<\/strong><\/h3>\n

When we are younger, we immaturely think that our relationships are supposed to be exciting<\/em>.\u00a0 Our friendships are going to be like on the television show \u201cFriends.\u201d\u00a0 Romantic partners are going to be attractive, funny and adoring \u2013 all the time.\u00a0 Effectively, we think that life is going to be like the movies.<\/p>\n

But even movies only last two hours.<\/p>\n

As we mature, we realize that no relationship is perfect.\u00a0 No one person is going to fulfill all our needs.\u00a0 And our relationships aren\u2019t going to be nonstop excitement and fun.\u00a0 Instead, to live a life of contentment, we don\u2019t seek excitement from our relationships, but rather, peace<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Recently, one of my friends wisely said to me, \u201cI am just seeking peace in my life.\u201d\u00a0 He has learned through life experience that real relationships aren\u2019t like the ones we see on television.\u00a0 Rather, they are far more complicated.\u00a0 So, his priority is simply to have peaceful relationships with everyone.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t agree more.<\/p>\n

If you want to have a life of contentment, strive to have peaceful relationships with others.\u00a0 Make peace a priority.<\/p>\n

How do we do that?\u00a0 Well, we stop arguing with other people.\u00a0 For example, I will not discuss politics or religion with anyone but my daughter and my husband.\u00a0 The three of us can discuss those issues without arguing or allowing matters to get heated.\u00a0 But I don\u2019t discuss those topics with anyone else.<\/p>\n

Other folks can think what they want, and if they don\u2019t see the world my way, that is OK!\u00a0 My top priority is to have peaceful relationships with other people, and that means that I don\u2019t discuss hot button issues with anyone but my immediate family.<\/p>\n

I also choose to let a lot of minor offenses go.\u00a0 We all easily could go through the day feeling offended.\u00a0 People either intentionally or unintentionally do and say inconsiderate things all the time!\u00a0 If you spend your time being irritated by other people, you will not be at peace.\u00a0 You will be aggravated, which is the opposite of being content.<\/p>\n

So, if you seek a life of contentment, develop a peaceful mindset.\u00a0 And make having peaceful relationships your top priority.<\/p>\n

Be Grateful for What You Have Today<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I will concede that it is nearly impossible to be content in the midst of serious life problems.\u00a0 Being content while suffering from a serious illness, violence or poverty is nearly impossible.\u00a0 Those are experiences that we simply get through.<\/em><\/p>\n

But most people struggle with being content, even when their lives are just fine.<\/em>\u00a0 There is nothing discernably wrong, and yet they are discontent.<\/p>\n

The challenge for many people is that they are ungrateful.\u00a0 They have food, clothing and shelter.\u00a0 Their relationships are decent, and they have good jobs.\u00a0 Yet, they are disappointed with life.\u00a0 They had an idea that life would be more fabulous than it turned out to be.\u00a0 And now they feel sad that life didn\u2019t meet their expectations.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, there is only one solution for that kind of discontent.\u00a0 Grow up.\u00a0 Be grateful for what you have!\u00a0 Realize that if you have the basic necessities of life, you are far ahead of millions of people in this world who don\u2019t have things like food.<\/em>\u00a0 Understand that there are so many people who would love to have even your worst day.<\/em><\/p>\n

Being grateful for what you have today, doesn\u2019t mean that we don\u2019t keep trying to improve ourselves and our lives.\u00a0 But to live a life of contentment, you need to be OK with what you have now.<\/em>\u00a0 Even if you have hopes and dreams for tomorrow, you need to appreciate all the things you have today.<\/p>\n

Expecting to be blissfully happy on a nonstop basis in life is a recipe for disappointment.\u00a0 Instead, create a life of contentment.\u00a0 Learn to be comfortable with your life.\u00a0 Make peaceful relationships a priority.\u00a0 And grateful for what you have today.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>(To read more about creating a life of contentment, click here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

Email: meerabelle@meerabelledey.com<\/strong><\/p>\n

To receive my Free E-Book, “The Confidence Course,” and my weekly newsletter, visit meerabelledey.com<\/a>.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many people have the mistaken belief that their lives are bad because they aren\u2019t happy all the time.\u00a0 Allow me to let you in on a little secret.\u00a0 No one is happy all the time.\u00a0 That is an unrealistic pursuit.\u00a0 Instead, what we should be striving for in life is contentment. Happiness is a feeling,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":593,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2421","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nStop Chasing Happiness and Start Creating Contentment in Your Life - Your Morning Cup of Inspiration<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Create a life of contentment.\u00a0 Learn to be comfortable with your life.\u00a0 Make peaceful relationships a priority.\u00a0 And grateful for what you have today.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/2020\/11\/stop-chasing-happiness-and-start-creating-contentment-in-your-life.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Stop Chasing Happiness and Start Creating Contentment in Your Life - 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