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Yesterday at Yoga, our instructor focused on the word ‘contentment’,  and suggested that contentment is all in one’s perspective. As I started thinking about it over the last 24 hours, I defined contentment differently at various stages in life.  Teenage contentment might come when a driver’s license and high school graduation are obtained; moving from there into perhaps vocational/college degrees being completed, thus leading to the first career job.  Career accomplishments, purchasing the first home, choosing a husband/wife, and building a family all hold significant feelings of contentment. Life keeps marching on with both its ups and downs, sometimes with contentment just out of reach, and other times, it might feel like WOW, life is so good!

All of this being said, I think that the key to real contentment lies deep within and is only reflected as we obtain these milestones in life. It is the reflection of our own inner way of approaching life …….the old proverbial half empty or half full glass! Ultimately, the way we feel about ourselves, our identification with our PURPOSE in life as we see it, and how we go about growing and further advancing our individual PURPOSE will show up in our level of contentment.  However, it is more than this. I believe it is really about what’s in your heart. Gratefulness, humility, and peace lend themselves well to contentment, no matter what the outward accomplishment may or may not be at any given stage in our lives. From this we can find peace and JOY!

“A grateful heart is a beginning of greatness. It is an expression of humility. It is a foundation for the development of such virtues as prayer, faith, courage, contentment, happiness, love, and well being.” (James E. Faust)

 

 

 

 

 

Sometimes we might find our train of thought rushing full speed into the territory of  ‘oh, if only I had done this or have made a different choice, things possibly/probably would be different today’.  This type of thought process may come to the forefront after a disappointment, a frustrating day (or week), or when we see others doing greater things than we perceive ourselves doing. The challenge with this is that our past, present nor our future will ever be ‘picture perfect’. Indeed, our life reflections from time to time may include less than GREAT thoughts about the past. However, that is just it……..those events are past. The PURPOSE they serve is to learn from them, live with PURPOSE in the present, and find JOY in today.

“The past is a place of reference, not a place of residence; the past is a place of learning, not a place of living.” (Roy T. Bennett)

Think POSITIVE; find JOY!

As I sat down to write today, my mind drifted to my last post about the REAL JOY of volunteering for something that connects with PURPOSE for your life. Another word for volunteering is service, meaning providing help with something for someone or an entity. Most of us have spent countless hours in service, not duty,  for committees at school, community or church boards, or professional boards. Service takes time, dedication and commitment to the mission of the committee or board. Now that I am in a semi-retired phase of life, I tend to think of service differently……it is now about serving others to give back in some way what I have been given….talents, expertise, and opportunities. My service now is dedicated to this. Here is an interesting quote that speaks to me about how I now view service.

“I slept and dreamt that life was JOY. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was JOY.” (Rabindranath Tagore)

Is there a service you would like to do, but can never find the time because of life’s commitments that are already scheduled?  Maybe a rethink on that is in your plan so that service for you is JOY.

It is a gray, rainy/slushy Wednesday over here in Wisconsin, so I have to find other things to think about that bring me JOY this day.  I started  reminiscing about my day yesterday. On Tuesdays, I volunteer as a speech, language literacy tutor at the Catholic grade school where my grandchildren,  4K through 2nd grade, attend. Since I am a semi-retired Speech Language Pathologist, Special Educator, and Literacy Specialist, this is well within my scope of expertise. I truly love my Tuesdays! It brings me JOY to know that I am assisting students with areas that they are in need of development or change. It is my way of giving back a simple six hours on that day, which at this point in my life, certainly feels like good PURPOSE. Of course, the additional bonus is that I see all four of my grandchildren in action!

I found this quote: “Real JOY comes not from ease or riches or from the praise of men, but from doing something worthwhile.” (Wilfred T. Grenfell). I think my Tuesdays are  REAL JOY and it feels worthwhile.

Do you have something in your life  you do that is in the category of REAL JOY? If not, how can you find that something?

Good Sunday Morning to you all,

We are now 15 days into the New Year and I am still thinking about what goals I want to set AND accomplish for 2017! This is unusual for me as I  most often have my goals in mind by New Year’s Day. This year there was a bit of family stuff going on that required my attention for the last few weeks. Now, there is a little breather and I am ready to focus on what my personal goals should look like.

The main  thing  about goals is that it gives us PURPOSE!  Goals give us a way to measure ourselves, including but not limited to,  our change and growth in life. The actual work  of goal setting is as important in our thought process as is the accomplishing of the goals.  If goals are too low, we may lack the enthusiasm to stay focused on them. If they are unrealistic, we may lose heart in trying to accomplish them.

During my  years as a Speech Language Pathologist, I set many goals for my clients. As a University Professor later in life, I taught special education teachers how to set goals for their students. Here are the basics in goal setting, whether for the above situations or for your personal life.

The goals have to be specific and relevant to you. Visualize exactly the thing you want to do, not just a vague notion of your action. What is most important to you that you want to improve in your life? What is worth the effort of all this work? Find a way for the goal to be measurable. You need to be able to see that you are making progress. Measuring goals in short increments, perhaps every two months, helps to keep you on track. The goals have to be realistic for your situation so that you WILL accomplish them. Finally, place your goal list in a place that you will see it EVERYDAY. Another idea is to put a picture related to the goal beside the list. I place mine in my office right above my computer. It reminds me to keep working!

How is your goal setting for 2017 coming along? If you haven’t started, it is never too late. Today is as good as any other day to set the goals that will help you stay focused on your PURPOSE!

 

 

One of my favorite writers is Matthew Kelly of Dynamic Catholic.  It seems fitting and appropriate to include his quote in this initial blog post. “Joy is the fruit of appreciation”. 

Appreciation is a big word, with many far-reaching effects in our lives. It comes in many forms, both visible and things that are only felt, not necessarily visible. Sometimes, we may recognize or ‘feel’ appreciation  unexpectedly; it can even bring tears to our eyes.  Sometimes, we might have to work at finding something or someone to appreciate if our day is in the category of ‘a tough one’. But when we take that moment before we put our feet on the floor to verbalize one thing/person that we appreciate at that moment, we have created the space for JOY in our hearts that we can begin our day with.

What do you appreciate right this moment in time?

PJP