Being Happy vs. Being Content

It’s 10:46 on a Monday night. I’ve got four screens beaming work, calendars, an Asana work list, and a forever looping vision-video at me in a my dimly lit room. Another long to-do list sits on the wall with many, MANY items yet to be checked off tonight. All the while downing alternating cups of coffee and water whilst listening to a mixture of Hollywood Undead, Carl Cox, and Dance with the Dead (check out that for a combination!)

Am I happy? F*ck yes!
Am I content? F*ck no!

It took me quite a while to get these two in their correct place. The struggle that sometimes overwhelmed me to keep my head above water in the early days of freelancing made almost want to quit and get a ‘normal’ job. To settle, and be content with what I was given.  So not only was I discontented, I was becoming massively unhappy too.
But of course I eventually ‘owned’ the struggle and accepted it as part of the process in order to get where I wanted to be. I refused to be where I see a lot of people were – content, yet unhappy. I made a promise to myself to keep these two the right way around. The book ‘Start Where You Are: Life Lessons in Getting from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be‘ by Chris Gardner (the awesome guy who wrote The Pursuit of Happyness) really helped me see this.

You can have all the riches in the world, the nice cars, the houses, the lifestyle etc – but unless you’re truly happy, it stands for absolutely jack shit. We all want to be happy, but we forget what that looks like, or what will bring it into our lives. So many lottery winners end up depressed because the thing they thought would fix everything ultimately didn’t. I’ve been lucky in the fact I’ve had some great friends and family, and there have been some memorable times in my life so far. I’ve got my health, the means and desire to produce great work, and the determination to see my own projects through.

I’ve learned to remember what’s important and what isn’t. Yes of course I want to progress to a place of abundance in all aspects of life. And this is why we should never be content. We should always want to better ourselves, not just in material possessions, but in spiritual terms, and matters of the heart as well. Push forward and the satisfaction of acquisition through our efforts will inevitably make us happy.

And during those times where we are the most unhappiest? When we want to quit and give up? Those are the times we need to be the most aware and conscious of what is happening, because afterwards, when the battle is won and things are finally going our way, we’ll remember those times and be proud of our hard work that pulled us from our slump. During one Morning Coach episode, JB Glossinger commented on a conversation with Penn from Penn and Teller, where the magician said he wished he remembered the difficult times more when they were doing small shows as it was important to his journey.

I do realise I’m babbling now, but I guess what I’m saying is – don’t be unhappy in life, just be discontented. Gain happiness by looking around at what you do have and being grateful. There’s ALWAYS something to be grateful for – even if it’s just the air you breathe, or you have been given a life. Then always look for ways to improve your situation and grow. Even if I become a multi-millionaire I would refuse to be content, I’d continue using the wealth to better the world around me. There are goals, but no final end-goal.

Let’s all live in happiness, no matter what the circumstances, and work together to better ourselves, and the world around us.

Be happy, and never give up 🙂 x