I found this blog post and found the rules for gaining contentment to be very encouraging.
* Allow ourselves to complain of nothing, not even the weather.
* Never picture ourselves in any circumstances in which we are not.
* Never compare our lot with that of another.
* Never allow ourselves to wish that this or that had been otherwise.
* Never dwell on the morrow; remember that this is God’s and not ours.
Plenty of food for thought here.
I struggle the most with the first one. I could quibble over a statement of fact versus a complaint, but I know which is which.
I also struggle with the last one and wrote about my latest struggle here.
Occasionally I’ll spend time wishing something had been different. I often agree that the Omega 13 device from Galaxy Quest would be great, so many things that I would change the instant they are done. But they can’t be changed and they pile on top of the things I realize later I really should have done differently. Then add in the things I had no control over that I wish had been different. However, I’m too practical to spend too much time there and usually stop wasting my time on what-might-have-been and just move forward with what-is.
