Our current culture, social lifestyle, and market philosophy is built around breeding discontentment. We are constantly seeking more. More things, more experiences, more friends, newer models of things we already have, and so much more. We do this because the best of life is constantly displayed in front of us. In commercials, in shows, by the media, and by our friend's social profiles and feeds. We are a generation of consumers and COVID-19 has quite suddenly cut us off from many of things and people we enjoy. And it is hard on all of us. This is an unprecedented challenge for our generation. And while we are all thankfully beginning to adjust to the routine of this new normal we are also going a little stir crazy. You see we've got all our tasks down now and are left emotionally with a "now what" attitude. The newness and challenge of this adventure has worn off. We would give anything to go to work, send the kids to school, or have a meetup with friends and family again. And yet we cannot. We should not. So how do we go beyond this task focused attitude? How do we move beyond just getting through towards a state of being emotionally satisfied with where we are in this moment? And how do we get our children to feel the same?
Contentment is about realistic expectations:
One of the reasons this is so hard is because this whole pandemic situation blind sided us. We saw it happening in other places of the world, but never dreamed it would reach us. Life was normal and then it was suddenly upside down and unlike anything before. And even then we thought it would be passed us in a week or so if we all followed the rules. Now as the length of required time stretches further we realize how unrealistic our expectations of facing a pandemic were. This should come as a reality check for how blessed we are and how much we've taken for granted. While I have always enjoyed and prioritized time with my friends and family I didn't truly appreciate the convenience of it until these obstacles were placed in our way. So the first step towards true contentment is taking a look at our expectations. Are they realistic? Are we doing what we can to make those expectations come true or are we hoping for the best and leaving it up to fate? We have to work through our own expectations and then help our kiddos do that as well.
Contentment is a discipline:
Many people confuse contentment with complacency or settling for the bare minimum. We believe this is flawed. Complacency leads to disappointment whereas contentment brings peace and joy. And it takes regular practice to be happy. You have to actively teach yourself to recognize and be grateful for what you have in this moment without wanting more. It requires us to teach ourselves and our children to slow down, appreciate the moment and not always wonder what's coming up next. It seems simple enough, but it takes true discipline to be consciously content in life's highs and life's lows
Contentment is recognizing the little things:
To help you practice the discipline of contentment you have to get into the habit of recognizing and being grateful for the little things.That's why it goes perfectly with our upcoming word of the week: gratitude. When we are having an attitude of gratitude we are actively seeking out the little things that bless our life and building a lifestyle of contentment. We talked to the kiddos during mat chat about practicing recognizing their roses and thorns as a family during meal times. That means it's okay to acknowledge one of life's thorns that makes you sad or frustrates you, but you also have to acknowledge life's roses or the good that comes from this. For example: it is a thorn that I don't get to see my friends all the time, but the rose is I get to spend so much time building up and making memories with my family.
Contentment is remaining hopeful:
Without hope and things to look forward to it is hard to be content with the season we are in. Maybe that means you and your family look forward to possibly going back to school this semester. Maybe you're hopes are a little further out and you look forward to that first summer day at Castaway cove. This is where we realistically hope for things in the future. And these hopes have to be fluid. It's okay to hope that this ends on or before May 5th. And if we reach that point it is okay to re-evaluate and start looking forward to summer instead. We just have to accept that life's circumstances are rarely consistent. Life will hit us and our children with many ups and downs. But if we can learn to be grateful, seek out the good, and find ways to be content no matter what is crashing around us we will be happier, healthier, and better equipped to weather the storm.
So use this time to learn and practice contentment and gratitude as a family. It is one of those lessons that will be priceless in the time's ahead. You've got this Warrior parents. Together we are stronger and we will pull through this.
#RaiseAWarrior
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