Wanting What We Have
Most anything we have in our lives, we once wanted. Sometimes, a lot. So much so that we would have given anything for it to be ours.
A relationship. A new house. A career. And then we get it. It’s kind of like that old adage about the dog who chases the car and finally catches it. Now what?
It’s easy enough to go on to the next thing. Checked that box. And we’re wanting the new, the different, the has-to-be-better.
Our culture is built on this philosophy in so many ways. The latest iPhone hasn’t finished synching the contacts of its purchaser before rumors of the next version start to circulate – and it’ll be so much better because it has this new feature and that new feature. And suddenly, the one we have doesn’t seem so great anymore.
Or what about our work? We haven’t fully appreciated the success of making it to our current rung before we’re looking up at the next one and thinking how great it would be to get there. Wishing we could be like so and so who’s already lounging around in the very spot we’d like to have.
We could easily live our lives chasing this loop of infinity. Never quite getting where we think we ought to be because there’s another must-have just over the next horizon. But if we’re bent on discontent, always wanting what we don’t have instead of what we do have, happiness is going to be an elusive commodity.
Maybe then contentment isn’t so much a destination as it is a commitment. To be happy with where we are while we’re there. With what we have while we have it. Life is definitely made richer and fuller by setting goals and reaching for new milestones. But when it’s all said and done, maybe the bigger accomplishment will come from continuing to want what we have while we have it.
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