”Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you,”- Lao Tzu.
Last night, before I went to bed, I picked up a book from my mom’s library. I opened the first page and saw that she’s had the book since 2010. The book had become dog-eared and it seemed water had splashed over it and soaked it. Although it had started falling apart, it was still readable. A Guide To Contentment by Fulton J. Sheen. From the back page, I learnt that Fulton was an Archbishop. The last time I read a self-help book was more than 3 years ago. I had been telling my fellow book lovers in the Hive Book Club Hangout about how I would really love to dive into the world again. What’s more interesting is that I didn’t even plan to start reading a self-help book this time, but it was as if fate brought this book to me. I have only read the first chapter in this book and it holds so much knowledge that I can’t wait to complete it.
Growing up, my parents were not too rich, but we could afford three square meals. They were able to satisfy my needs and to some extent, my wants. My father would always tell my siblings and I that we should be grateful for the things we have because he didn’t have the opportunity to grow up with them. My father would tell us stories about his childhood days and how he went days without eating a real meal. His words and stories stuck with us and they started to guide us. In everything I do, I always try to be content with whatever I have. Always remember that someone somewhere wishes to be in your situation. Be grateful to God for where you are and remember that as long as there is life, there is hope. Now, what does contentment mean to you?
Chapter 1: How We Are Torn
The first chapter of this book is titled “How We Are Torn.” At first, I did not understand the correlation between this chapter and the title of the book, but after reading the chapter slowly and carefully a second time, I got the message. The theme of chapter one is compulsion. Compulsion is the enemy of freedom and freedom is necessary for contentment. A person who gets compelled to do things easily is very far from the spirit of contentment. For example, a person who gets swayed by worldly things easily. Let’s use a school teacher who earns $100 monthly as a case study. He sees his friends wearing a wristwatch worth $80. Let’s even make it more compelling. He is in a group of 5 friends and he is the only one who doesn’t have the $80 wristwatch. Just because his friends taunt him about it, he goes ahead to take out $80 out of his $100 to buy the wristwatch.
According to Sheen, contentment can only exist when a person is free, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Compulsion takes away this freedom. Compulsion enslaves us. They rub us of our choices.
I agree that sometimes we want the best things for ourselves. I mean, who wouldn’t want to wear nice wristwatches? Who wouldn’t want to drive nice cars and live in a comfortable house? But before you allow yourself to get trapped in the webs of compulsion, ask yourself this question; Do I really need to have this? Am I financially capable of getting this? If you can’t get something twice, then don’t go for it at all.
I’m glad I picked up this book and I can’t wait to dive deep into it.
Images in this post are mine. Thumbnail created using Canva.
Thanks for reading.