I write another blog on a series of of health web sites. Sometimes I do a far better job writing for someone else instead of for myself. So I’m pursuing the edge of laziness by reblogging myself here. Promise, I’ll spend the rest of the evening trying to drum up something interesting.
Promise.
I mean it.
Really.
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Leslie’s Health Axiom #8: Create Your Contentment.
Walk into any book store and you’ll trip over all the self-help books bent on guiding you to your perfect happiness. Can’t say I’ve ever read one but I get the gist.
But I think there’s a huge gulf between happiness and contentment. Happiness strikes me as temporary state of mind while contentment seems like an overall sense of being. And since I like to hedge my bets, I’m on a constant journey to keep the contentment going.
Last week my perfect moment of contentment just happened upon me.
I’d been challenged with a tough project at work that I originally didn’t want to do. I put my mind to it, figured it out, and ultimately improved it.
Contentment element #1: Turn a bad day into a good day.
After I escaped from the office I put fingertip to keyboard and wrote one of the best blog posts ever.
Contentment element #2: Better yourself at something you love.
Then I took off for the health club where I spent an hour grinding away on the elipitical machine and lifting weights. Result: a wild endorphin high.
Contentment element #3: May I highly recommend enjoying nature’s pain-killer … responsibly.
Then I went home, plopped myself down on my favorite microfiber covered coach with a bag of the perfect snack, Terra chips. Now I know that mindlessly shoving food down one’s mouth is one of the worst healthy eating crimes one can commit, but Terra chips are made of veggies so I kid myself into thinking they’re ok. And they’re out-of-control delicious.
Contentment element #4: Enjoy a delicious, somewhat nutritious snack.
Now with my butt firmly planted on the coach, riding a wild endorphin high and methodically munching Terra chips, the icing on my perfect moment of contentment happened upon me. A re-run episode THAT I HAD NOT SEEN of my favorite TV drama of all time, Law & Order, began.
Suddenly the sensation washed over me and I realized this was my perfect moment of contentment. Everything I love came together, without plan, during one moment. And I didn’t have to plan or pay for it. It just happened.
So create your inventory of contentment and begin creating your own moments.