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More thoughts on contentment..

I have been thinking about this idea of contentment. Folks have very different ideas on what this word means to them. I feel like I have definitely turned a corner on this one. I spent most of my life associating the word content with laziness, "resting on your laurels", lacking drive. My generation grew up seeking wealth. Most of the people I knew growing up came from upper middle class families. I wasn't aware of struggling families, I am sure they existed, but I was certainly blind to it. I never collected clothes for the needy, worked in a soup kitchen, or donated gifts to families at Christmas time. How could I grow up so blind to the needs of others?

Who knows, I'm sure my own family struggled a little from time to time, but I never knew it. My parents were always frugal, but we never lacked necessities. My friends and I grew up dreaming of awesome careers, huge homes, incredible vacations, perfect families, filled with all the fun money could buy. We all went chasing after the dream. Many of us have owned businesses, experienced varying levels of success and failure. Some moved to big cities, done the whole big house, flashy life thing. We weren't content, to be content would leave to much on the table. We had to have it all.

In retrospect, we could have made some different choices along the way. Life, and I believe, God, is teaching me what is really important. I have come to the realization that these life lessons, while often painful, are not punishments, they are a guiding hand, trying to get me back on course. I am very thankful for this renewed perspective.

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