My sister in law recently described my mum as having being a 'contented' person.

I'd never thought of her like that, but thinking about it after, yes, she was contented later in life.

Not in a smug way or anything.....

Personally, I don't think contentment and happiness are the same thing - I think you can be very happy with your life but not necessarilly content.

How would you define contentment?

My sister in law recently described my mum as having being a 'contented' person.

I'd never thought of her like that, but thinking about it after, yes, she was contented later in life.

Not in a smug way or anything.....

Personally, I don't think contentment and happiness are the same thing - I think you can be very happy with your life but not necessarilly content.

How would you define contentment?

having achieved in life what you hoped/wanted to achieve
i'd imagine most parents with grown up kids should be content

When I'm looking critically at my life I have a measure called the GCL- general contentment level. I invented it because I think happiness is too woolly a term to use in lots of settings.

I agree that it's not the same as happiness- to me it's about finding a place for yourself and feeling appropriate and 'right' in that place (however you may define it). You can be content without being happy, or happy without being content- and happiness is often a much too fleeting emotion to be used in a proper life-evaluation.

My appraisal has always been used in my internal appraisal of my position in life, whilst looking at where I am, where I'd like to be and what I can change in order to get there (can you tell I've studied a lot of NLP?).

Content is not wanting or needing for anything

content is being able to enjoy what you have

content is having no stress or friction in life

content is to have peace and enjoy it


Content trumps 'happy' any day :)

Content is not wanting or needing for anything

content is being able to enjoy what you have

content is having no stress or friction in life

content is to have peace and enjoy it


Content trumps 'happy' any day :)

That's me ****** then. I'd have to say I'm more happier than I am contented.

(sidenote, strix, if I post on that thread where you helped me, that would make me more contented:hihi: I need to ask you something else, technical)

Content is not wanting or needing for anything

content is being able to enjoy what you have

content is having no stress or friction in life

content is to have peace and enjoy it


Content trumps 'happy' any day :)

i suppose but it's gonna be a long time for some (well me), so for the time being ill just have to be content with been happy every now n then, (especially this weekend)

Great definition Strix :thumbsup:

Content is not wanting or needing for anything

content is being able to enjoy what you have

content is having no stress or friction in life

content is to have peace and enjoy it


Content trumps 'happy' any day :)

So true, particularly the part about being able to enjoy what you have...even if that isn't much, sometimes its all down to our perception of things...it is a blessing to be able to see and value what we do have rather than grieve for what we do not have, and the peace to enjoy it, yes that is contentment :)

Content is not wanting or needing for anything
content is being able to enjoy what you have
content is having no stress or friction in life
content is to have peace and enjoy it

Very well put Strix, I'm content.

Me too strix. It has come more with age for me, I've realised what is important, and I'm no longer striving for material things. My other half has a saying about contentment - its about wanting what you've got, not getting what you want. I want what I've got, so I'm content (well most of the time!)

Content is not wanting or needing for anything

content is being able to enjoy what you have

content is having no stress or friction in life

content is to have peace and enjoy it


Content trumps 'happy' any day :)

That about sums it up ;)

When it's blowing a gale and lashing with rain I'm content to be stuck in the house, - but when the sun comes out and I can get out then I'm happy :)

My sister in law recently described my mum as having being a 'contented' person.

I'd never thought of her like that, but thinking about it after, yes, she was contented later in life.

Not in a smug way or anything.....

Personally, I don't think contentment and happiness are the same thing - I think you can be very happy with your life but not necessarilly content.

How would you define contentment?


Yeah I agree, I am 'content' today, but I am not 'happy' so to speak.

Contentment comes from inside a person.
Some people can be content with so little and do not envy people who have more.
I think contented people are born this way, are happy as babies and continue being content with what they have in life wereas for others the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.

hazel

To me being content would be lying in bed last thing at night and being able to think 'Yeah, things are ok, I'm liking where I'm at right now' and not having a constant stream of 'Oh I shouldn't have done that, I should have done this differently, I wish this was different'.

Im very contented now. Apart from the fact that I keep worrying that things are so good that they HAVE to turn nasty eventually- its the way of the world.

Actually, worrying about it is sort of defeating the object isnt it...?

Im not sure if it comes with age, Im 46 and contented and the other half is 30 and contented, so Id say in my case at least, a good partner and money to waste helps a lot towards overall contentment.

Content is not wanting or needing for anything

content is being able to enjoy what you have

content is having no stress or friction in life

content is to have peace and enjoy it


Content trumps 'happy' any day :)

I'm content with who I am and what I have but if
I could have summed contentment up as well as that Strix, then I would be MORE than Happy.:thumbsup:

Content is not wanting or needing for anything

content is being able to enjoy what you have

content is having no stress or friction in life

content is to have peace and enjoy it



Mmmmm.....
The more I look at Strix's excellent definition of contentment, the more it seems to be a 'state' acheived by Zen Masters and the like.

Satori, anyone? ;)

I agree that it's not the same as happiness- to me it's about finding a place for yourself and feeling appropriate and 'right' in that place (however you may define it). You can be content without being happy, or happy without being content- and happiness is often a much too fleeting emotion to be used in a proper life-evaluation.


This post wasn't given enough credit though....

Very true Medusa. I'm with ya. :)

I think there's points in my life where I felt contentment. Then it quickly changed! lol... Sometimes ignorance is bliss.

I remember feeling quite happy and worry-free when I did my last exam at uni. That was a great day. I still remember that feeling of freedom.

Now? Now I worry about my future, and my financial status. How much do I need to retire etc etc... Don't think I'd be content for a long while!