What do you fill in the blank with? Money? A better job? An attractive body?
Unless you fill that blank with “rational, healthy thinking” it’s likely that you’ve formed a thinking error, one that is costing you a better quality of life.
To be sure, things like money or a good job are great to have, but do we really need them to be content?
Many of us believe that that we need certain conditions in our lives to be content. This way of thinking subjects our peace to factors that are well beyond our control.
How long can you sustain ideal conditions in your life before something negative happens? Are things ever perfect?
Setting such conditions can leave us believing that we must wait until things get better before we can be content. We use phrases like “if only ______would happen, then I could be happy.”
In short, we become stuck in a cycle of sadness and dissatisfaction.
The key to contentment has little to do with external circumstances and lots to do with how we think. This idea can be found in time-tested therapies like CBT and philosophies such as Stoicism, and Buddhism.
Learning to do this takes a systematic process and some work, but for most people it’s worth it.
Don’t wait, start your journey toward contentment now.
The very best to you.