Contentment

Would you pay for a simple ice cold water? A tetra packed fruit juice? Or a glass of lemonade with strawberry shots? Given a significant price difference, many would settle for the fruit juice, or if really thirsty, even just the cold water. For a brief analogy, that would somehow explain the level of contentment that each person has.

At first glance, it is easy to assume that everyone wants the best of the best. That is, to be rich, happy, successful, and every positive thing that one could think of. However, careful reflection would say that this is not the case. Each person has a distinct set of desires that he/she wants to satisfy. In one of the seminars that I have attended, the current CEO of Yehey.com, who once worked in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, told us that he once offered an accountant a promotion for staying in the company for several years. To his surprise, the woman kindly declined the offer. Her major was in accountancy, and it made sense that she's contented with what she was doing. To some of us, that would be a surprise. Who wouldn't want to get promoted? The thing is, she was very satisfied with what she was doing. Would anyone dissuade her from that?

The point, therefore, is clear. Each of us has his/her own levels of contentment. It may be as simple as having a happy family, or living a peaceful life in the outskirts of the city. It can be higher like being the president of a multinational company, or having a successful business. To others, it can even be an insatiable hunger to get rich, or to own cars that are as many as the blades of grass in a field.

We may view this in a positive or in a negative way, but the fact remains that we have varying standards and desires. However, no matter how low or how high that standard may be, what is really important is that we are contented. Contentment, in the end, erases regrets. Who would want to live and die with full of regrets? Nobody.