Happiness is often a short-lived emotion. Contentment is usually a long-lasting state of mind. You probably want to be happy, and nothing is wrong with that. You deserve happiness, and we hope you experience it every day. We also wish you a life of contentment, one filled with happiness.
You may notice that we call happiness an emotion but contentment a state of mind. Though these two positive realities are similar in many ways, they are created and realized differently. Let's look at contentment and happiness and see how you can get more of both into your life.
Happiness
Think about something that made you happy. A friend told a silly joke that made you laugh. Even though you are a rookie in the kitchen, you baked a pie, and it turned out perfect. You were surprised to bump into a dear friend you hadn't seen in a very long time.
Those are situations that might make you feel happy. Your response is emotional. You feel happy, and you might even laugh and smile a lot. That's happiness.
Contentment
Contentment happens when you reflect on those times in your life that created happiness. Stop right now and think about several experiences that made you feel happy. You might even start smiling and laughing now just remembering them.
Looking over that collection of short moments of happiness can lead to feelings of contentment. You can't help but feel grateful to have those moments. There's a sense of satisfaction and even peacefulness that comes over you.
This is what contentment is. Constantly revisiting happy moments in your past leads to the realization that as imperfect as you are, you can experience happiness. This can foster self-acceptance and a feeling of contentment with who you are and how your life is going.
Happiness Is Great, but You Should Strive for Contentment
Incidentally, when you revisit moments of happiness, you may naturally spend some time thinking about life experiences that weren't so positive. When this happens, your happiness begins to disappear. However, if you accept who you are and where you fit in the world right now, with all your imperfections and shortcomings, you can be content with those negative experiences as part of your life.
Embrace the mindset of contentment. Look at your life, with all of its ups and downs. Understand that you are unique and wonderful and absolutely fine right now. You don't need to change in any way. Then seek out moments of happiness. This can lead to long-lasting contentment filled with plenty of short-term doses of joy and happiness.
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