ProtoTypical writes:
It seems as though we are not content with being content. Somehow like you are slacking off. Damn near a sin if you ask a protestant. Isn't happiness the goal?
For sure.
I remember a story I read somewhere about a businessman and a fisherman.
The business man is on vacation and runs into a local fisherman.
The business man tells the fisherman how he is working very hard his whole life so that one day he will amass the amount of money he requires to retire, then he will relax and fish all day!
The local fisherman says... I'm just doing that now.
Contentment really is an issue, though.
I mean, I fully understand "The Grass is Greener on the Other Side" and all that.
Yet, I still get the desire for other junk sometimes. It happens.
I can fully understand those who have a difficult time dealing with jealousy and the craving for "more."
I wonder if it's one of our hard-wired left-over evolved traits to want "more." Maybe that's why we're the dominant ape species? Because we wanted "more" more than the other groups of apes and killed them all off?
Doesn't really matter where it comes from, though... either way we definitely have the feelings now and need a way to deal with them.
Fortunately, we can use our intelligence to deal with our instincts/feelings.
I'm sure we
want more.
But... do we
need more?
Yes. Maybe if we get that new lease on the shiny BMW... maybe then Mr. Next-Door-Smarty-Pants-Jones will give us a tip-of-the-hat respect when we see him in the mornings.
But... after that 2-second exchange... we're still alone in the car for our drive to work. We're still alone when we sleep at night. We still
really only have to answer to ourselves. So... is it really all that necessary?
These are the sorts of mind-questions/processes I run through when I'm trying to feel "content" instead of wanting "more."
™ Version 4.2