You’re better than that: a senior on contentment and complaining
by John Moore
Staff Writer
“Contentment is a window or picture frame that sets the boundaries around us in which to live.”
—Susan McCauley, daughter of Francis Schaeffer
After a taste of beautiful weather and more soon to come, it seems the complaints about the gray drizzle that has hung over the hills of eastern Tennessee for months have ended. People begin to study outside and simply enjoy these temperate days of spring.
Attitudes about the weather have shifted from despondency to joy, at least for a time. But before we know it, we may soon bemoan the fact that the sun is shining too much and that the temperature is too hot. Indoors we will go, where we will regulate climate and attempt to avoid sweat as though it were a contagious disease.
Contentment will likely be a struggle for us humans nearly all of our lives on earth. We tend to move from one thing to the next, looking for satisfaction and finding it, for a time, in the new. As the thrill gradually wears off, we move on with time and effort. However, I am convinced, that contentment is a state of mind rather than a place of life.
The weather may be a moot point, as all seasons have their less than desirable aspects; nevertheless, we often lose our appreciation of things for what they are versus what we want them to be. We are inhabitants of a culture that has a notorious predilection to constantly desire everything to be immediate, yet also tends toward that age-old, grass-is-always-greener desire for something other than what we currently have. Read full story »






