Contentment is from Within not Without

We tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have.”

Frederick Keonig

Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams, who looks inside, awakens."

Carl Jung

Your life has a tremendous amount of potential and the only way that you can be content in life is to do everything you can to live to your full potential. You see, it doesn’t matter how much success you have or don’t have, you will never be content unless you are pursuing your potential. Here are 3 keys to help you find contentment in your life.

Find and pursue your greatness: You will never be content in life if you know that you have something greater to do in it. Even people that have achieved success but know that they aren’t living to their full potential aren’t content. After all, if you are meant to do a certain thing in life and don’t, how in the world can you find contentment?
Help others: There is great contentment in helping other people. You were never meant to live only for yourself in this world. There is so much to do and so many people to help. Make it a point to help people at least one hour a month. You will probably find that this one hour will give you an extreme amount of pleasure and contentment. Before long, you will want to be helping people much more often.
Create a great character: Some of the most content people I have ever met are people you have a tremendous amount of character. You see, if you walk in integrity and character, you don’t have to worry about messing things up or covering your back all the time. There is a great deal of contentment when you walk in honesty, integrity, and can be trusted.

But, if your contentment is based on anything outside yourself, money, more time, a relationship with the "right" person, you are doomed to failure. When circumstances change, your contentment will change. If your contentment emanates from inside your heart, it will not change with the circumstances. There are a few things you need to check with yourself if you want to have contentment

Learn to really like yourself: There are certain elements to consider. They include self respect, acceptance, appreciation, trust, tolerance. Look at these ingredients and apply them to yourself. Consider whether you treat yourself with the same love and appreciation you would treat another person.
Respect yourself: Is there something in your past or someone who has made you feel less of a person? Are you living up to your personal values? Can you say you can be trusted? Do you keep your word?· Accept yourself: Are you as accepting of yourself as you are of others? Do you look only at your flaws or do you consider your positive attributes? If there are areas you aren't comfortable with, are you in the process of changing them? Change what you don't like, accept that which you don't want to change. You don't have to be perfect.
Appreciate yourself: Do you look at the nice things you do and pat yourself on the back? Do you tell yourself the words of encouragement you tell others? · Trust yourself: Do you follow your intuition? Do you make sensible decisions? Is your judgement sound? Do you have common sense? Do you learn from your mistakes?
Show tolerance toward yourself: Do you dwell on the negative or do you balance it out with positives. You may not normally think positively, your negative mind chatter may drag you down but you can develop the habit of thinking positively, creating an attitude of optimism and hope.
Take care of yourself. If you don't, nobody else will. If you don't appreciate and love yourself, how can you expect others to appreciate and love you? Develop goals that move you closer to caring for yourself. Learn from everything that happens, the positive as well as the negative, the small as well as the large.

As you like yourself more, you can consider others more. You aren't so preoccupied with getting your own personal needs met. It's a win-win situation. As that happens, you find that delightful people come into your life and enhance it even more.

Most of our attention is drawn in meeting outward desires and these do not subsidize. Each desire when met gives rise to fresh set of desires. The state of contentment comes when we withdraw our attention for some time from external world and remain absorb to realize our inner self. This reduces outward distraction and fills us with peace. Meditation in the word of God helps to realize of real- self and it brings contentment. The following suggestions may help you in being more contented:

Avoid comparison with people who are perceived to be better than you in material possessions. Fill your life with more intangible values like love, sacrifice and honesty as it will help you and other people around in bringing happiness.
Feel gratitude for so many things which God has provided you that ought to make you contented. Every one of us will be blessed with so many good things, but we often ignore them and crib about things not possessed. Look to what you have which most others are deprived. A loving family, normal health and a stable income; most of us have all of these. Are not these sufficient reason to be contented, but we look for big house, costly vehicles and fancy dress; wish list is never ending.
Love others and share their worries and anxieties. These activities meet your inner needs and make you feel happy and contented. Look to future with hope through hard work. You feel capable to achieve what is aspired and it makes you contented with life.
Set up a goal in life. People who engage in pursuing some higher goal in life remain busy and excited leaving no time to feel dissatisfied with life. Avoid negative people, depressing music, staying indoors too long, not getting enough sleep. All these create distraction of mind.
Bring contentment in life by adopting proper balance in life. Everything in life; job, family, relations, rest, enjoyment, wealth, all contribute to overall life satisfaction. We cannot feel satisfied by ignoring anyone at the cost of other aspects of life. Living a balanced life brings contentment.