On serenity versus contentment…
“The mind is its own place and, in itself can make a heaven of hell or a hell of heaven."
~ John Milton
Most folks are about as happy as they make their minds up to be.
Serenity.
Serenity is not a feeling of accomplishment from doing something. Serenity is a practice.
A peaceful and calm; worried by nothing:
Marked by or suggestive of utter tranquility and unruffled repose.
Different than contentment.
A state of satisfaction drawn from being at ease in one's situation, body and mind and of having accepted one's situation.
Is contentment even desirable?
Does it lead to stagnation?
If you are content, do you lose that drive and motivation to discover knew things and overcome difficulties to achieve more ambitious endeavors?
If you are content what drives you each day?
Maybe it’s OK for some?
To each their own but is this kind of complacency actually resignation and giving up?
Or just acceptance?
Yes to both?
Acceptance does not mean giving up, quite the contrary as explained in ‘just care less’.
The lower levels much be sorted before ascending. Each level should be complete before you ascend. If they are each not sorted in your mind you will struggle.
I try to hang out on top of Maslow’s pyramid but by using negative visualization, I also try to keep at heart what Marky and Eppy say below!
“Almost nothing is needed for a happy life for he who has understood existence.”
~ Marcus Aurelius
"Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants.”
~ Epictetus
Wanting positive experience is a negative experience; accepting negative experience is a positive experience. It’s what Alan Watts used to refer to as “the backwards law” - the idea that the more you pursue feeling better all the time, the less satisfied you become, as pursuing something only reinforces the fact that you lack it in the first place. The more you desperately want to be rich, the more poor and unworthy you feel, regardless of how much money you actually make. The more to desperately want to be sexy and desired, the uglier you come to see yourself, regardless of your physical appearance. The more you desperately want to be happy and loves, the lonelier and more afraid you become, regardless of those who surround you. The more you want to be spiritually enlightened, the more self -centered and shallow you become in trying to get there.
"Nothing is enough for the man to whom enough is too little."
~ Epicurus
"The world is infinitely deceived in thinking that contentment lies in having more than we already have."
~ Jeremiah Burroughs