I built the house my family calls home almost 10 years ago. It has been an incredible home for our family and we have loved living here. We have all we need and love our neighborhood. But we are beginning to look at a possible move to a bigger home. We’d love a third stall garage, a space for the kids to dump their backpacks and shoes and slightly larger living quarters and yard. But it’s nothing that we NEED. And therein is the struggle.
CONTENTMENT
My husband and I struggle with being content knowing we’ve already been blessed with more than we need. We have a beautiful home, two vehicles in great condition, two jobs we love, and most importantly of all, two wonderful, healthy kids! We ping-pong back and forth about whether this is the right move for our family to make or if we just stay where we are and be ok that our “wishlist” isn’t all met. Do we really need those extras? Or are we just not seeing and realizing that we aren’t content with our blessings.
Do you struggle with this as well?
For us it’s our house and a possible move that we struggle with, but I know others struggle with contentment in other areas. Is it a job move? Are you thinking about whether your current position is it or if you need to make a move to another company or a different career path? Is it your health or weight? If you aren’t content with your current health state, are you willing to make a drastic move to change it? Is it that you never vacation when those around you seem to be gone all the time? There are so many facets of life that can be affected if you aren’t content.
So what can you do to change discontentment? I’m not an expert at all. When we approach these decisions, we look at our list of blessings first and decide if that is worth messing with. Is it worth taking what is currently a positive and possibly changing it to a negative? For example, as we approach this house decision, we change our minds on a daily basis. We take a walk around the neighborhood we adore and know the next one could be noisy, not have young kids for us to play with, or not as safe. So we count our blessings of our neighborhood and let that weigh heavily on the grass isn’t always greener side of things. It also helps us focus on being content by focusing on the positives.
I know others who aren’t content in facets of their life might bottle it up, or some might share it with others. Some might do well with lists and focusing on what is positive already like we do. I know some might check for new jobs daily or be a Zillow stalker like I am. Or pray. That’s the #1 thing we do to help get some clarity. Pray.
In the social media era we live in, where everything gets shared and we constantly know what the Joneses are doing, people feel the pressure to keep up. It is easy to become discontent with areas of our lives. Count your blessings and put your energy into the changes that count – that will make life more positive for your family.
