Contentment

Recently, two dear people from my childhood passed away. They were the parents of my best friend from elementary school. They died just a couple of weeks from each other. I probably spent as much time at their house as a little girl as I did my own. My friend's parents were very geniunly dear people. I can't remember them ever being angry. They weren't over-the-top bubbly, but they were always pleasant. She had a crippling disease ever since she was a girl and I never once heard her complain. They lived in a modest house and I can't recall them taking expensive trips or vacations. She never wore fancy jewelry. She didn't even own a car. Their children went to public school. They bought a second hand bedroom set from my mom over 30 years ago that they kept until they died.

They could have afforded fancier things, or a bigger house. They could have afforded cruises. I'm fairly certain he would have happily bought her diamonds and bling had she wanted them. But they didn't do any of those things, and they were content. Happy.

As they have been in my thoughts so heavily this week, I thought about their lives and what an incredible lesson we all can learn from them. Often we spend our time and our lives chasing something else... more money, a bigger house, a newer car, a better job, more this, more that.....more, more, more. How often do we bother to look around our lives with appreciation with what we have? When do we allow ourselves to be content?

These two people who lived their modest life by choice had figured out something that many of us miss. By simple appreciation, they found happiness and contentment. They spent their energy loving each other instead of chasing the "more". They found a contentment and peace within their lives that many people yearn for. The irony is that most of us can have that peace if we would simply stop chasing the next bigger, better thing. We could be content, and content by choice, such as they were.